To Steal Time
by Stacy Galore
Summary: Astoria is missing portions of time in her recent memory. Her best friend, Pansy, thinks somebody's playing tricks on her. Her beau, Theodore, thinks she's going mad and his best mate, Draco, concurs, despite the mysterious marks on her wrists.
1. Chapter 1: After Hours

"To Steal Time"

By Stacy Galore

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Jo Rowling does. I just play with them.

_Warnings: (may not apply to all chapters) strong language and explicit sexual situations including, but not limited to, non-con and slash._

Chapter 1: After Hours

It was precariously close to curfew when Astoria Greengrass left the library after studying for the first Arithmancy exam of the year. It seemed that she was the only Slytherin taking the subject in sixth year, so she chose to study in solitude, rather than put up with the constant inquiries of her house mates in the common room as to why she would subject herself to such a torturous course. Astoria looked at her watch. She had five minutes to get all the way down to the dungeon. She started to run so as to avoid getting caught in the corridors after hours. She barely slowed down to turn the corner and nearly slipped on the smooth stone floor. Abruptly, she stopped. Astoria hadn't decided to stop running. All of a sudden, she just wasn't running anymore. Oddly, everything seemed to have stopped. Her heart rate and her breathing pattern weren't racing to fuel her marathon sprint to the dormitory and they weren't slowing down from a speeding pace; they were simply at rest. Her skin was moist with sweat – far more than there should have been, considering she was only running for a minute at most – making her blouse stick to her back. The dimly lit corridor was eerily quiet, as if somebody had uttered a silencing spell. She could have sworn that she had just turned the corner to enter the hallway that lead to the stairs, but she was already at the bottom of the stairs on the dungeon level of the castle.

Astoria, completely perplexed, walked distractedly to the heavy, iron doors of the Slytherin dormitory as she pondered what had just happened. The coiling metal snake that kept the door locked reared its silver head and spoke with a wispy, slow voice, "You're out after curfew, Missss Greengrasssss. I will have to report you to Professsssor Sssslughorn."

"Give me a break. I'm two minutes late at the most," said Astoria, rolling her eyes.

"Sssssomebody needs a new watch," said the guard snake.

Astoria looked at her watch. It was twenty minutes after curfew. She flicked the glass over the dial to see if it was perhaps broken. No. That didn't make sense. If her watch stopped, it would have read earlier rather than later. She continued to inspect her watch as she mumbled the password and walked into the common room.

"Where the hell have you been?" came a suspicious inquiry in a dramatic tone from across the room. Astoria didn't have to look up to know that the voice was issuing from Theodore Nott, her boyfriend with a tendency towards over-reacting and a penchant for drawing negative attention. He bloody well knew exactly where she'd been. There was no reason for him to shout across a sparsely populated room with such an accusatory attitude, other than to humiliate her, as Theodore so often liked to do just to remind the world who wore the pants in the relationship. He overcompensated for his insecurities, usually quite publicly. Astoria used to find it endearing, but after two years, it was wearing on her.

She slowly and silently walked towards the lanky boy who stood with his arms crossed, glaring at him with almost as much condescension as he radiated back at her with his own eyes. Theodore pushed the long, artfully angular fringe of his blue-black hair out of his face with a slender finger to give Astoria the full wrath of his dark stare. She felt her pulse rise and heat begin to gather within – Theo was so fucking sexy when he was angry. She softened her gaze to one of seduction as she put her arms around his narrow waist and placed a kiss on his thin, taut, lips. He never altered his stance as she let her hands slide into the back pockets of his tight, charcoal grey trousers. Theo may have been utterly lean, almost to the point of emaciation, but he inexplicably had a fantastic arse.

"The library. I told you at dinner," she moaned into his chest as she snuggled against him, breathing in the cologne doused all over his sweater. He smelled like a holiday on the beach – crisp like the ocean with a subtle hint of coconut rum.

"If you were studying so hard, then where are your books? And why were you out so late after curfew?" Theodore inquired, still unmoving in his pose that could only be described as a full-body pout.

Astoria was both shocked and embarrassed to find that neither her Arithmancy text nor her roll of parchment were where they should have been – in her arms. She didn't put them down. They were simply gone, and she had no idea where they were. She stepped back from Theo, staring at the mysterious void in her hands. "Honestly, I have no idea."

"Don't give me that attitude," he reprimanded her, more loudly than was necessary, causing the small group of students lingering in the room to disband who were tired of his usual drama.

"I'm not giving you attitude. I swear I have no idea!" Astoria insisted. She waited for the room to clear and then spoke with a hushed voice, explaining the odd thing that had just occurred, as the boy listened with skepticism written all over his furrowed brow.

Theodore exhaled shortly and derisively. "If you have something to hide from me, you don't have to make up a stupid fucking lie like that. Just tell me to go mind my own fucking business." Astoria liked it when Theodore used off-color language, and was particularly excited by his liberal use of the F-word. It was a departure from his aristocratic air that he always put on for everybody. He only spoke this freely in front of her and his close friends.

Astoria pulled him by the hand to sit with her on the couch. The common room was now empty. She draped her arms over his shoulders and gazed at him with her silvery blue eyes hoping to melt his icy demeanor. She said with a honeyed tone, "Theodore sweetheart, you know I don't hide anything from you," as she brushed her lips along his pale cheeks, sweetly threatening to kiss him, but never applying any pressure.

"It just sounds so absurd," he scoffed.

She whispered dismissively, "I know. But I'm sure there's a good explanation for it. We'll think about it more in the morning." She smoothed her hand over Theodore's chest and rested it on his thigh. Right now I want to show you how much I've missed you."

"Since dinner?" he sneered.

"No, you know what I mean," Astoria intoned mischievously, then kissed him, sliding her tongue past Theodore's rigid lips and perfectly aligned teeth.

He yielded to her kiss, weaving his fingers through her wavy straw-blonde hair. He paused to take a breath and asked, still with a hint of suspicion, but with aroused interest, "What's gotten you all hot and bothered all of a sudden?"

She answered, "We haven't been _together_ like this in a long time."

Theodore raised an eyebrow and smiled. No, rather, he smirked. Like an uptight, moody prince, Theodore rarely smiled. It was always a triumph to entice the slightest upward movement from his lips and Astoria prided herself in being able to do it. "What are you proposing?" he asked.

"Why don't you let me show you?" she said as her hands glided under the bottom of his sweater to the clasp of his leather belt.

Theodore grabbed her hands and asked with a scandalized whisper, still smirking, "Here? Tori, we might get caught. God, how did you get so fucking horny?"

Astoria closed her eyes and moaned into his neck, "Say it again, Theo."

"What?" he asked, though he probably knew exactly what she meant.

"That word." She gently grazed his pale skin with her teeth.

"Fucking," he said plainly, the amused smirk never leaving his face.

"Yes. . . more." She traced his earlobe with the tip of her tongue.

Clearly amused, but not aroused, he rattled-off a slew of foul words with a haughty staccato to his voice, "Fuck, shit, pussy, bitch, Weasley, cunt, mudblood, arse, Potter."

Astoria said with breathy desire in her hushed voice, "Oh, Theo, I want you so badly right now."

Condescendingly curious, Theodore asked, "Seriously, Tori, what's gotten into you? You're like a possessed woman or something."

She admitted, "Its you. You're so fucking hot when you're angry and swearing at me." She took the collar of his white shirt into her fists and kissed him hard.

He squirmed uncomfortably out of the kiss. "I'm just not used to seeing you this way in a public place."

"Do you want to go to your room?" she asked with hope rising in her voice.

Theodore advised, "No, if we go to my bed things might get out of hand."

She spoke seductively, tracing the growing lump in his pants with her finger. "Why not just let them get out of hand?"

He exhaled sharply and reminded her, "Darling, we made a vow."

Astoria huffed exasperatedly, "Yes, yes, yes. That stupid vow."

"Astoria, it isn't stupid. It is very sacred to me. I want to save it for our wedding night." There was hurt in his voice and in his eyes – that vulnerable, boyish inflection that wasn't quite a whine, but the closest thing he could come to it.

They had promised each other that they'd save themselves for marriage. It was Theodore's idea at the end of Astoria's fourth year, when their physical relationship began to escalate. The notion of staying a virgin until marriage was certainly archaic, but incredibly romantic nonetheless. Not only that, it was a promise of forever. He never officially proposed to her – it was just a given fact and an expectation that they would some day marry. Astoria didn't particularly need to be betrothed at such a young age, but it was comforting to know that Theodore would stick with her should she want him to. A part of her wondered if it was just Theodore's manipulative ploy to keep her faithful to him when he graduated from Hogwarts – he was in his seventh year and she still had two to go. Either way, it was flattering, so she went with it. There were many instances when she wanted to break that vow and give in to her desire, but he reined her in when she got out of control. Theodore was her voice of reason. He gave balance to her impulsive nature and ensured that she remained the perfect picture of a pureblood Slytherin princess.

"Oh, Theodore. I'm so sorry. You're right," she sighed.

"Its OK, Tori. I love you." He pecked her on the lips.

"I love you too," she cooed. They cuddled silently on the couch for a brief moment.

Then Theodore suggested with that sexy little smirk of his, "You can still . . . you know." Astoria and Theodore had stayed true to their vow over the years, but usually found ways to circumvent it and did everything they could think of, short of intercourse. She was well versed in the delicate art of oral sex.

"I want you to talk dirty to me while I do it," she whispered subversively as she slithered down to the floor and kneeled between his legs.

"No. What if somebody hears?" he said as he quickly scanned the empty room with his eyes. She made short work of his belt, button, and zipper then gave him an inspiration to talk dirty.

Theodore groaned as Astoria took him in one hand and teased the tip of his cock with her tongue, "Oh, god, you're so fucking good at that."

"At what?" she asked, looking up at him with smoldering eyes, burning like a blue flame, then coaxing the words out of the boy as she took his entire length into her mouth achingly slow, gripping every ridge and blood-filled vein with her lips as she went down.

"At sucking my cock. Oh, fucking hell, you're so good."

Astoria glanced up to find Theodore with a rare smile on his face. His eyes were closed and his head was tilted back with blissful abandon. It aroused her to give him such pleasure, to know that only she could break his cool, regal exterior and allow him to express an emotion other than haughty aloofness or overwrought disdain.

His fists tightened around her hair as she quickened the pace. "Mmm . . . That's a good girl . . . Yeah, suck it . . . Suck my cock. . . put my big fucking cock in your mouth." His vulgar whispers heightened Astoria's own excitement and she couldn't keep her hand from wandering down between her legs. As she manipulated herself, she brought Theodore close to climax. "Oh, sweet mother of Merlin. . . I'm going to come in your mouth. . . and I want you to lick it all up. . . oh, fuck . . . I'm going to come." She stroked him with the head still in her mouth and soon the bittersweet taste of Theodore's essence was streaming down her throat in hot bursts.

When he released his grip on her hair, she knew he was finished. She slid off of his softening organ and stood up. With a flick of her wand, she conjured up a glass and then spit out Theodore's ejaculate. Good pureblood girls never swallowed. Astoria admired her ability to reduce her boyfriend to a puddle of post-orgasmic, sleepy, euphoria as she stood before him. She smiled proudly and then sat down on the couch next to him, snuggling up close.

"I love you," she whispered, nuzzling her pointy nose into his neck.

"Love you too," he said weakly, still reeling from the orgasm. "I better go. Don't want to fall asleep here," he mumbled.

"What about me?" Astoria asked with disappointment.

"Yeah, you should go to bed too," he replied, opening his eyes partly and then slowly sitting up to zip his trousers.

"But, Theo, I need you," she whined.

"Tori, I'm so tired. Next time," he said sleepily, then pecked her on the cheek. "Goodnight."

Astoria pouted and bitterly said her goodbyes before shuffling off to the girls' dormitories. It was so frustrating. Theodore almost always finished. Astoria never finished. She was lucky if he actually went down on her, and when he did, he could never bring her over the edge. She thought she came close to completion a few times. In fact, Astoria had never experienced an orgasm. Even when she masturbated, she didn't know what to do to achieve that sweet release. She was a tightly wound ball of over-stimulated nerves. Astoria calmed herself the only way she knew how. She went into the girls' bathroom, opened the window, and sat on the black marble ledge. From the pocket of her skirt she pulled out a thin silver case with the Slytherin crest etched into it. It was a gift from Theodore – a case for quill tips. But she'd emptied it out and used it as a cigarette holder. She took one out and lit it with her wand, breathing in the soothing smoke and exhaling it into the cold autumn night.

Her frazzled nerves and frustration melted away with each breath until her mind was clear. Soon thoughts of the strange thing that happened in the corridor crept back. Maybe somebody hiding around the corner jinxed her. Perhaps it was a prank. Who would do such a stupid thing? Astoria didn't have any specific enemies. Sure, there were people she didn't care for and there were people who didn't particularly like her either. But she never publicly acted on any bad blood. There was never anything serious enough to act upon.

Pansy Parkinson walked into the bathroom wearing shockingly pink, satin pyjama pants and a white camisole. "Hey, Tori," she greeted Astoria then climbed up onto the ledge to join her. "Can I have a fag?"

Astoria obliged, glad to have somebody to talk to. "Pans, something really weird happened to me tonight."

"What? Did Theo finally put out?" she joked.

Astoria rolled her eyes and sighed. "Of course not. So bloody frustrating."

"Tell me about it. Draco has been such a fucking prude lately. I don't know what his problem is. I haven't gotten laid in ages. If he isn't careful, I may go relieve my frustrations elsewhere."

Astoria giggled, "Pans', you're such a slag. Whoever said Slytherin girls are frigid was seriously mislead. It's the boys that won't put out. But seriously, something strange just happened." Then she told her best friend all the odd details of what had occurred in the corridor.

Pansy proposed, "Clearly, you were jinxed by somebody that has something against you. Maybe they wanted you to get caught out of the dorms after hours so that you'd get detention."

"But that's so juvenile. Who in Merlin's name would do such a thing?" Astoria marveled.

"We're not the most popular girls at school, you know," Pansy admitted.

"Thanks, Pans'," Astoria said sarcastically with a bruised ego.

Pansy explained, "I mean, there are a number of people who hate us because we've monopolized the attention of the most eligible men in young pureblood society."

"Hate is a rather strong word. I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it that. Envy, yes. But hate? Enough to play stupid tricks on me? I just can't fathom anybody would be so petty."

Pansy suggested, "What about that girl Tracey Davis? She's always making eyes at Theo. And that ruddy ponce, Blaise. And Romilda Vane."

"No, Romilda and I are cool. We're not friends or anything, but we're straight with each other. And Blaise? Are you fucking kidding me? It's blindingly obvious that Theo isn't gay, so he'd be wasting his time. As for Tracy, she's not clever enough to do such a thing."

Pansy ruminated as she exhaled a long trail of smoke, "You know, it sounds like the sort of infantile, stupid thing Draco and Theo would do."

"Yeah, it does. But they weren't there to laugh hysterically at me when I came back to the common room. In fact, Theo was livid." Astoria confessed.

They paused and smoked silently, pondering the mystery. Pansy broke the silence and flicked her cigarette butt out the window. "I'm all out of ideas, babe. All I can say is watch your back."

Millicent walked into the bathroom in a fluffy bathrobe with her cat trailing her closely behind. "Ladies," she nodded to the two girls and proceeded to apply cream to her broad face.

Pansy jumped off the ledge and stood at the sink beside Millicent. "Give me a bit of that, Millie dear."

"You're such a moocher, Pans," the large girl complained as she grudgingly handed the tiny glass pot over to the small girl.

"Yeah, Pans. You're always taking my fags," Astoria teased her.

"God, I thought friends were supposed to share," Pansy whined as she dabbed cream on her cheeks. "You, of all people, should understand that, Millie."

Millicent blushed and knocked into Pansy playfully with her hip. "Hush, Pansy."

Astoria was too distracted to question the subtle innuendos exchanged by her two friends and was about to leave when Millicent said, "Tori, I think you dropped your Arithmancy text book in the common room. I nearly tripped on it on my way back from Vincent's room."

Astoria was perplexed. "Where did you find it?" She didn't remember having it with her when she came back to the common room.

"I said, the common room floor. But I put it in your room," said Millicent.

"Hmm. Your enemy is in your own house, darling," suggested Pansy in a scandalous tone.

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" asked Millicent.

"I'm telling you, Tori. Blaise Zabini. That poofter wants your boyfriend."

"Would somebody _please_ let me into the loop," begged Millicent.

"You can have the honors, Pans. I'm going to bed," said Astoria as she left the bathroom to go deliberate on the possible explanations.


	2. Chapter 2: Losing Time

"To Steal Time"

By Stacy Galore

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Jo Rowling does. I just play with them.

_Warnings: (may not apply to all chapters) strong language and explicit sexual situations including, but not limited to, non-con and slash._

Chapter 2: Losing Time

A week later, it happened again.

Astoria failed her first Arithmancy exam and her father was outraged – how could the daughter of a celebrated Arithmancer dare to do anything but excel in the subject? She sought extra help from Professor Vector after dinner. Still convinced that somebody was out to get her best friend, Pansy offered to walk Astoria to Professor Vector's office, which was in a less-frequented corridor of the school.

"I'll come back in an hour, and I'll bring Millie for backup," said Pansy as she left her at the doors of the Arithmancy professor's office.

"An hour and a half. I have a lot to go over," said Astoria. "Are you going to be OK walking back alone now?"

"I'll be fine. It isn't even dark yet," she assured her.

Astoria looked out the windows that lined the corridor. The sun was low in the sky, just about to dip below the horizon, making shadows on the stone floor. The heavens were a dark, hazy blue and the moon was visible, peeking through the trees. She felt perfectly safe and knew Pansy would be too.

After an hour, Professor Vector informed her that she had a staff meeting to attend to, but that Astoria could stay in his office to work on some practice questions she'd made for her. Well, that was good. She could remain in the safety of his office and have something to do while she waited for Pansy and Millicent to get her. But after fifteen minutes, she got anxious and bored. The office smelled like old people and reminded her of her grandmother's house. If she departed now, she could find her friends before they left the Slytherin dungeon.

Astoria opened the door of the office and stepped out, but the corridor was not the one she should have walked into. It was another isolated corridor in the school. She turned around to go back into the office, but found there was no door behind her. She panicked, trying to figure out exactly where she was, running down the hall hysterically. From the moonlight shining through the windows and the dead silence, she knew it was later than a quarter past seven. She looked at her watch, and sure enough, two hours had passed since she decided to leave Professor Vector's office, though it felt like seconds. Astoria had somehow breeched time and space. She reached a stairwell and peeked her head out the open windows – she was very high up in the castle, in one of the towers. She ran all the way down the winding tower stairs. As she exited the stair well, she nearly knocked into Headmaster Snape and gave a startled shriek.

"Miss Greengrass. We've been looking for you. Where in Merlin's name have you been?" Professor Snape asked irately.

Theodore and Pansy were a few paces behind the Headmaster and ran to her side. Pansy threw her arms around her friend and rattled on like an over-protective mother, "Tori! Are you OK? Where the hell have you been? I panicked when you weren't at Professor Vector's office. Millie and I looked for you everywhere. We were so worried when you didn't come back for curfew so I told Professor Snape that you were missing. What happened?"

Theodore put a domineering hand on Astoria's shoulder and suggested, "You lost track of time at the library again, didn't you?"

Astoria was overwhelmed. Everybody was asking questions that she couldn't answer. She simply shook her head and said, "No," while her mind spun, trying to wrap it around the strange occurrence.

"Do you have an explanation for disappearing for hours and being out of the dormitory after curfew?" Professor Snape asked with an accusatory tone.

Again, all she could do was shrug and reply in the negative.

Professor Snape huffed at her unintentional insubordinate reply, "Well then, Miss Greengrass, I'm afraid you're going to serve detention in my office tomorrow night. Seven O'clock."

"That's not fair!" whined Astoria.

"Then explain your self, young lady," said Professor Snape, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I just left Professor Vector's office a few minutes ago," she replied with a confused look on her face.

"Professor Vector informed me that you were not there when she returned from the staff meeting," said Snape.

"But I swear. I was just there," Astoria insisted, but not fully sure of herself.

The headmaster asked in a sharp, accusatory tone, "Are you calling Professor Vector a liar?"

"No sir, but,"

"If you do not come forward with a reasonable explanation, I maybe forced to give you detention every night this week until you do."

"But,"

"Back to the dormitory. All of you," he dismissed them.

Frustrated, Astoria stormed all the way back to the Slytherin dungeon, her friends walking quickly to keep up with her.

"It happened again. Didn't it?" asked Pansy angrily. Astoria didn't have to answer, for her guilty facial expression revealed everything. "Tori! Why didn't you wait for us?"

"I was bored," she answered meekly.

"What are you talking about? _What _happened again?" probed Theodore.

"It was a quarter after seven when I left Professor Vector's office. I'm absolutely positive of that. But when I stepped out the door, it was a quarter after nine. And I wasn't in front of her office anymore. Its like I was transported to some place else and time sped up," Astoria explained.

"You know how preposterous that sounds, right?" said Theodore dismissively.

"Tori, you _must _tell Professor Snape," urged Pansy as they entered the Slytherin common room.

"Absolutely not. He'll think you're mad. He won't believe you," said Theodore to Astoria, giving Pansy a scathing look for even suggesting such a ridiculous thing.

In the common room, Pansy saw Draco sitting on the black leather sofa, flanked by Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Millicent was perched on the arm of the sofa, playing with Vincent's hair lovingly, but jumped up when she saw Astoria enter the room. She ran to question Astoria, and Pansy quickly took the seat she just vacated.

Pansy crossed her arms over her chest and asked, "Are you boys messing with Astoria? If you are, you better fucking stop it. It isn't funny."

Draco scrunched up his nose in disgust and snorted, "Greengrass? No. Why would I waste my time on _that?_" With the last word, he motioned his upturned nose at Astoria with distaste.

"_That_ happens to be my best friend, Draco. And if I find out you're playing stupid pranks on her, I swear, I'll fucking hex you into next week," spat Pansy furiously.

Draco laughed condescendingly and his two friends were quick to follow suit. "Pans, darling. Come here." He motioned for her to sit on his lap. Pansy did so grudgingly, her arms still crossed. He put his arms around her waist, rested his chin on her shoulder and spoke quietly into her ear, "I know I'm rather vocal about my disapproval of your choice of friends. I've told you a million times that you can do so much better than the daughter of a simple _academic_. Still, your choice to align yourself with somebody so, erm," he paused to find the right word, "so _common_ is your prerogative. I haven't the time to waste on, nor the slightest interest in, sabotaging your friends. Honestly, darling. Don't you think I have better things to do?"

Pansy let out a slow, defeated sigh. "I guess."

Theodore, Astoria, and Millicent approached the couch. Like gentlemen, Vincent and Gregory stood up to offer their seats to the girls. Millicent took the seat to Draco's left and he quickly slid his girlfriend into the other seat before Astoria could sit down. Vincent sat on the arm of the couch and took on the role of Millicent's hairbrush. Astoria sat down on the fluffy, white bearskin rug with the other boys.

"So, what's this I hear about your girlfriend getting jinxed or something, Theo?" Asked Draco, speaking to his friend as if Astoria were not sitting there directly in front of him.

Theodore put his arm on Astoria and rested it heavily over her shoulders. "Oh, it's nothing, Draco. I think the stress of school is getting to her head."

Astoria whined, "I'm not imagining it. It really happened." Pansy nodded her head in agreement.

Theodore rolled his eyes at her and said patronizingly, "Sure, Tori."

"Theodore," she started irately and pushed his arm off her shoulders, "This is the second time it happened. I'm not imagining it. It really happened."

Draco raised an eyebrow, intrigued slightly. "I've got to hear this. What happened, Theo?"

"You don't want to hear it, Draco. Its silly," Theodore said, trivializing his girlfriend's concerns.

Astoria jumped up. "Its not silly. It happened. I'm not going mad."

Draco turned to Pansy and said, "Alright, well if Theo won't tell me, you explain it, darling."

He could have easily asked Astoria to explain it, but he rarely spoke directly to her if he could help it. And Astoria, who had a general aversion to the discourteous boy, was all too pleased to do the same. She knew Draco regarded her as inferior and disapproved of her position in their little circle. For whatever reason, Astoria wasn't good enough to be Pansy's best friend and certainly not worthy to be Theodore's girlfriend. Maybe he looked down on her because she was a year younger than all of them, or because the Greengrass family was new money, though they were just as filthy rich as the Malfoys. Perhaps Draco's contempt stemmed from the fact that she hadn't been friends with them as long as they all had been friends with each other. In any case, he never voiced a solid reason for disliking her – to her face, at least. It didn't matter to her anyway, so long as their unspoken agreement to avoid direct interaction was honored.

Pansy obliged and explained both strange occurrences to her boyfriend. Draco sat quietly with one raised eyebrow and a haughty smirk on his face. When she was done, he snorted, "You're right, Theo. You're girlfriend is losing her mind. That's the craziest thing I've ever heard."

"You see, Tori?" Theodore said, as if Draco's word was the final authority on the matter.

Astoria huffed at Theodore's stubborn incredulity and stormed off to the girl's dormitory. Pansy got up to follow her, but Draco held her back. Astoria reached the bathroom and flung the door open, practically knocking over a third-year girl. There was another young girl at the sink. Astoria gave her a scathing glare and said, "Get out." Now alone in the room, she could be free to cry. She leaned over the sinks and sobbed. Why wouldn't Theodore believe her? It was maddening. She felt so insignificant and silly and she began to doubt herself. Perhaps there really was a benign explanation. After all, they were at a school for witchcraft and wizardry. Anything was possible. Maybe the boys responded the way they did because she over-reacted to something that was actually commonplace. However, she was pretty sure she'd never heard of such a thing occurring before.

The more she contemplated it, the less frustrated she became, and the tears ceased to fall. She turned on the cold water tap to wash her face. She rolled up her sleeves and gasped at what she saw – the skin on both of her wrists bore reddened marks encircling them, as if she'd been wearing very tight, irritating bracelets all day. She touched them – the skin was rubbed raw and sore. The dreaded Unknown washed over her again as the mystery deepened, and worsened. There was no way these marks were self-inflicted. Somebody did this to her while she lost time.

She ran out of the bathroom, neglecting to turn off the water, and found Draco and Theodore sitting alone in the common room. She strode angrily up to her boyfriend and said, "You don't believe me? Then look at this." She brandished the red sores on her wrists as evidence.

Theodore was furious. He stood up from the couch, grabbed her by the wrists right where the marks were, causing her to flinch in pain. He hissed quietly in her ear, "Don't you _dare_ embarrass me in front of my friends again," as he pulled her to the opposite end of the deserted common room. He glared at her intensely and reprimanded her like a child, "I don't know if you're doing this for attention or what, but it has to stop. You're making a fool of yourself. And of me. Do you think I want to be known as the boy who's dating that crazy girl?"

Astoria looked down and examined her wrists with shame. "Is that what people are calling me?" she asked in a whimper.

Theodore continued to speak to her with a condescending tone, reminiscent of her father's. "Not yet. So quit while you're ahead. You've earned nothing but detention, so can't you see it isn't worth it?"

"What do you propose I tell Professor Snape?" she challenged.

"The truth, of course," he said, as if it were obvious.

"Which is . . ." she probed him to fill in her blank.

"I don't know, Astoria. You tell me. What have you been doing after hours outside the dorms?" he asked her angrily.

"God, why don't you believe me?!" she threw her arms up exasperatedly. "Why can't you trust me and be on my side for once?"

Theodore's hard countenance softened. He looked down at her distraught face with pity. "Tori, I am on your side. I love you. Which is why I want you to come clean and tell me the truth about what you've been doing." He gently picked up her wrist, smoothed a finger over the red marks, and placed a soothing kiss on her raw skin. "And tell me why you feel the need to hurt yourself."

Astoria pulled out of Theodore's light grasp and scowled at him. "Fuck you, Theodore." She fled to the girls' dorms and cried bitter tears of anger and frustration. The next day, she avoided Theodore all together, unwilling to get into another useless confrontation with him.

That night, she served detention with Professor Snape and decided the best thing to do was to tell him everything. The Headmaster sat behind his desk with his finger on his pursed lips contemplatively as he listened to Astoria's honest explanation of why she was out after curfew.

"And you said this happened to you once before?" he asked for clarification.

"Yes, sir. Please believe me. I have no reason to make this up," she said, bracing herself for more ridicule.

"Can I see your wrists?" He asked. Astoria pulled up the sleeves of her sweater and showed the Headmaster her scars. He eyed them with moderate concern and suggested, "You should see Madame Pomfrey about that."

"I swear that these are not self-inflicted wounds, professor. Please believe me," she pleaded.

Professor Snape relaxed into his high-backed chair and said, "I do believe you Miss Greengrass. And I agree that these occurrences are mysterious, indeed. But in light of the current," he paused searching for the right word, "_political_ situation, I'm sadly not surprised that somebody in the school wishes to harm my students." He gripped the arms of his chair, leaned forward, and looked at her sternly. "Though I can not offer you an explanation, I can suggest that you be more vigilant. If Death Eaters can break into the school and," he stopped short and cleared his throat, looking away uncomfortably, unable to finish his sentence. "Let's put it this way. No place is safe anymore. Not even Hogwart's. So please, Miss Greengrass, have more common sense and don't walk around the school at night alone asking for trouble."

Astoria looked down dejectedly and mumbled, "Yes, sir." It was hardly the validation she needed. But at least he believed her.

"I see no reason for you to stay and serve detention. I'll walk you to the dormitories," he said with a heavy sigh, as if he were being terribly inconvenienced, and rose from his desk.

"May I ask you something first?"

Professor Snape slowly sat back down and folded his arms. "What is it, Miss Greengrass?"

"Is there any way of getting back those memories I lost?" She asked. "Perhaps it would reveal who was doing this to me."

The headmaster looked up, as if searching his head for the answer then let out a long, slow breath through his hooked nose. "There is. I could attempt to extract the memory from you." He pointed to a tattered, old sofa on the other side of the room and said, "Please sit over there and try to relax."

Whatever Professor Snape did, it failed to work. He could only conclude, "Its just not there. Your memory of last night is gone."

"Gone?" Astoria asked, unwilling to believe.

"Yes, Miss Greengrass. That's what I said. Gone. Now, unless you know how to extract your own memories for later viewing in a pensieve, which I highly doubt, then I suspect somebody has taken the memory from you."

"Taken?" she asked, still shocked.

"Are you hard of hearing, Greengrass?" he asked, annoyed.

"No sir. I'm just . . . surprised. I can't imagine who would want to do that to me."

Professor Snape pinched the bridge of his aquiline nose and screwed his eyes shut, as if it were painful to explain this to Astoria. "Young lady, you can not afford to be so naïve in this day and age," he began with a sigh. "You come from an upstanding pureblood family – a family with, as far as I've heard, no connections with Death Eaters." Astoria nodded emphatically. "There are people who believe that any pureblood wizard who doesn't align themselves with The Dark Lord is a . . . traitor."

This chilled Astoria to her very core because of all it implied. Snape was correct about Astoria's family. But unlike some old pureblood families, such as the Weasleys, her parents did not take any stance against Voldemort, per se. They simply didn't take a stance _for_ Voldemort, and carried on as if the threat of his imminent return to power were nothing but unsubstantiated rumors. Even in the days when The Dark Lord was strong, back in the seventies, her parents remained non-partisan and apathetic, turning a blind eye to the evil that loomed secretly in the pureblood high society circles with which they consorted. Astoria grew up surrounded by families with suspected ties to Voldemort. In fact, she could only name a handful of acquaintances whose family names were completely clear such as hers. Astoria didn't want the thought that was beginning to form in her mind to surface and suppressed it as best she could, just as she had done her whole life. But the truth was overwhelming and belligerent. _Oh my god, all my friends are children of Death Eaters!_ Her boyfriend, her best friend, her best friend's boyfriend, everybody in her most intimate circle of companions: all of them were children of dark wizards, and many were poised to join Lord Voldemort's ranks soon. In fact, one of them gloated that he was already a Death Eater, though everybody, her self included, knew he was full of shit.

Astoria refused to believe any of them would try to harm her. She didn't put childish pranks past them, but to hurt her with motives stemming from an evil agenda – it was too awful to even fathom. As they walked in the darkening corridors back to the Slytherin dormitories, Astoria quietly cursed Professor Snape for turning her into a paranoid mess. If she couldn't even trust her closest friends, there was nobody she could talk to. She felt utterly alone and frightened. The truth behind her mysterious lost time was worse than she originally thought. Astoria wasn't just the butt of a joke; she was a target of terrorism. When she reached the common room, she internally fought the urge to go running to Pansy with her latest revelation. The shame of not trusting her own best friend made her sick to her stomach. As the heavy doors opened with the utterance of the latest, chillingly appropriate password (Purity), she begged, _please don't let them be there! Not in the common room!_ But where else would the royalty of Slytherin House preside but in their royal court? Her throat clenched and her mouth became painfully dry when she saw her friends in their usual spot – the black leather sofa. It didn't help her in the least when Professor Snape put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Remember, Miss Greengrass. Be smart. Stay vigilant." She could have sworn that he gave her friends an accusatory glare from across the room before turning away with a dramatic swish of his thick robes.

She studied the faces of the group encompassing the most comfortable place in the common room as she walked towards them slowly, calculating what she would say. Pansy was smiling up at her, probably pleasantly surprised to see her back from detention so soon, with Draco's head in her lap – he was monopolizing the entire length of the couch. Theodore was sitting on the floor in front of the couch prodding Draco's side with his wand and laughing, "Come on, Malfoy. Move over, you prat," causing the boy to squirm.

"Stop, that tickles, you cock sucker," Draco giggled (yes _giggled) _as he half-heartedly pushed Theodore by the shoulder.

"Oh, does it?" Theodore asked, incited to poke more, teasing more child-like laughter from the other boy.

Millicent was sitting on the wide arm of the sofa, unabashedly snogging Vincent who stood before her – both were too engrossed in each other to notice Astoria approaching, or anything else around them for that matter. Gregory and Blaise were sitting on the floor, hovering over the black, marble coffee table with quills scratching swiftly over parchment strewn about them, giving the impression that they were studying, but more likely copying somebody else's homework.

Astoria had to smile at the sight of them all as she heaved a warm sigh of relief. How could she doubt that her friends were anything but normal teenagers doing typical things? How could she even entertain the thought of any of them terrorizing her purposely? She laughed internally.

"Hey, Tori! That was quick!" Pansy called out to her when she was within comfortable earshot.

Theodore turned away from Draco and his impish grin turned into a weak, forced, smile. It was like he was disappointed to see her. He was probably still sour about the fact that she avoided him all day. "Astoria," he regarded her coolly with a slight nod.

She put her hands on her hips and returned the chilly greeting with another. "Theodore." She paused, waiting for him to apologize for last night's outburst. When none came, she went to sit on the other arm of the couch beside Pansy.

"So?" said Pansy expectantly.

Astoria gave her boyfriend a triumphantly smug look as she declared, "Professor Snape believes me."

Theodore was aghast. "You _told_ him? And he didn't give you detention for the rest of the month?"

Confidently, she replied, "Yes, Theodore. I told the Headmaster _everything_ and he believed me."

Before Theodore could make a condescending retort, as the expression on his face dictated he was about to do, Pansy asked, "And what did he say?"

"He thinks somebody stole my memory."

Draco feebly stifled a snort, and mumbled, "Who the hell would want to do that?" Pansy gave him a little reprimanding slap on the cheek, which did nothing to tame the boy.

"Like stealing memory from a goldfish." Theodore muffled a laugh behind pursed lips.

Astoria gave the two snickering boys a scathing look, with particular scorn reserved for her insolent boyfriend. When they were sore with each other, Theodore could be such a jerk. "You know what, Theodore? You can go fuck yourself. And your arsehole friend Malfoy too." She turned to leave, but he shot up from the floor and caught her by the wrist. The sores were still painful beneath the scabs and she flinched.

"Astoria Ivy Greengrass, don't you walk away from me," he huffed, sounding eerily just like her father with the same haughty, indignant voice.

She spun around to face Theodore with her eyes shooting blue flaming daggers at him. "Let go of me," she growled in a hushed but seething voice.

"Calm down, Astoria. You're embarrassing yourself."

"Let go, Theodore, you're making a scene." Asking Theodore to not draw negative attention to himself was like asking Lord Voldemort to cede to Harry Potter.

"Both of you, sit down!" commanded Pansy like a mother refereeing two squabbling children. "I can't stand to see you fighting anymore." Theodore and Astoria stood deadlocked, her wrist still firmly in his grasp and their eyes trained furiously at one another. Pansy put a hand on Theodore's shoulder and said soothingly, as if attempting to project her calmness onto the boy, "Theo, you go sit over there next to Draco and I'll go have a word with your girlfriend. OK?" After another tense moment, Theodore finally relented, still glaring angrily at Astoria as he perched on the edge of the couch. Draco put an arm on Theodore's back and they both scowled at Astoria in camaraderie. "Girls," Malfoy scoffed dismissively.

Separating the two did little to diffuse the situation. "I swear, Pans, I'm _so_ close to breaking up with him," she said, fighting angry tears as she glanced at Theodore from across the crowded common room. Draco was talking to him, probably telling him Astoria wasn't worth the aggravation. "I should do it now before he breaks up with me."

"Tori, just stop for a minute. Think about it."

"I am thinking about it. Isn't it a little odd that Theodore is so adamant about not believing me? He knows something. He's probably trying to cover up for one of his friends."

"Now you _are_ starting to sound crazy. Theo loves you. He would never choose his friends over you. Yeah, he acts like a prat around the boys, but that's just a front. Believe me, Tori. I've known him for a long time. He wouldn't cross you like that."

Astoria relented. Pansy was probably right. But her fears were still not at rest. "Professor Snape said something that really got me thinking."

"What?"

Astoria sighed, not really wanting to 'go there', but unable to keep her suspicions to herself. "Do you think its possible that I'm a target of the Death Eaters? Since my family is so staunchly neutral and all?"

"Sure its possible. But Tori, come on. You're friends with all the up and comers. I know first hand that they're pretty good about not hurting their own. They've got bigger fish to fry."

Astoria began to sob into her friend's arms. "Oh, god, Pans. I don't know who to trust anymore."

"Well I've got your back. You know that, Tori," Pansy said as she gave her a comforting squeeze. Astoria nodded and continued to cry silently with her head resting on her friend's shoulder. After about a minute, she felt a larger, heavier hand on the back of her head, stroking her smooth, blonde hair.

"I'm sorry, darling," Theodore said earnestly. "Come here," he whispered and pulled her into his embrace. His arms were long and gangly, but they felt so reassuring around her. She buried her face into his chest. "I'm so sorry I made you cry, Tori." His smooth, deep voice melted away all her anger.

He kissed the top of her head and then rested his cheek lightly where his lips had been saying, "I love you, Astoria. Let's not fight anymore."

It had only been a day since they last shared an intimate moment, but the rush of warmth she felt just now made it seem like she'd gone a month without his love. Astoria closed her eyes and lost herself in the heat of Theodore's breath, in his comfortingly familiar smell, and in the lull of his steady heartbeat in her ear. "I love you too, Theodore."


	3. Chapter 3: A Memory Returned

"To Steal Time"

By Stacy Galore

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Jo Rowling does. I just play with them.

_Warnings: (may not apply to all chapters) strong language and explicit sexual situations including, but not limited to, non-con and slash._

Chapter 3: A Memory Returned

What happened to Astoria must have struck a chord with the headmaster, for he addressed the school at a special assembly the next morning on the subject of safety and vigilance. He suggested that the students travel around the castle and the school grounds in groups of at least three people. This was simple enough for Astoria to follow – she wouldn't make the same mistake of walking alone anymore after what happened the last two times she foolishly did so. Thus it came as even more of a surprise when it happened for the third time, despite the fact that she heeded Professor Snape's recommendation and walked to another Arithmancy tutoring session with two people. It was right after dinner. Pansy and Theodore were supposed to walk her to Professor Vector's office, but Millicent needed a third person to go to the library with. So Draco grudgingly came along to escort Astoria at Theodore's request. The three of them had turned the corner to enter the deserted corridor housing the Arithmancy professor's office. The next thing she knew, Astoria was outside, lying on a field, in the blackness of an evening rainstorm, vulnerably alone and frozen with terror. She didn't need to look at her watch to know it was much later than six o'clock.

She pushed her drenched hair out of her face and stood up slowly to get her bearings. In the flash of lightning, she could see quidditch hoops shining at the end of the pitch. How on earth did she get all the way here? Frightened, and at the same time angry, she stomped out of the field towards the castle. She was soaking wet, her thick robes heavy with rain, hindering her determination to get back to a populated area quickly. There was a secret passageway at the foot of the hill just up ahead that lead directly into the dungeon. Only a select few Slytherins knew about this passageway and Astoria was grateful, for once, to be an acquaintance of its founder, Draco Malfoy. He wasn't good for much more than his knowledge of secret ways in and out of Hogwarts. The girl clambered towards the rocky outcropping that hid the entrance of the tunnel, dragging her robes through the downpour, not caring about the mud that coated her shoes up to her ankles. As she drudged across the school grounds, her fear turned to triumph because she was quite certain that something similar must have happened to her escorts. She could hurl a triumphant 'I told you so' at Theodore.

It was just before curfew when Astoria entered the Slytherin common room, her drenched, disheveled appearance raising curious stares from her classmates. It was Friday, and the room was crowded with jubilant students, ready to begin their weekend exploits. She scanned the room from the entranceway, dripping and breathless, searching for Theodore and Draco. There they were – Draco was seated at a small table looking completely at ease as Theodore stood, leaning over the table threateningly, shouting at the other boy and seething with anger. "I thought you were done with that shit ages ago, Malfoy." Astoria could hardly hear Draco's retort, but could clearly make out the words forming on his lips, "I was bored." She quickly approached the two and as she did so, she noticed neither seemed wet.

"What the hell just happened?" she spurted. The two boys jerked their heads towards Astoria, shocked at her appearance.

"What the fuck happened to you?" asked Draco.

"I was walking with you two just a few minutes ago and then, holy fuck, I'm outside on the Qudditch pitch, it's pouring rain, and I'm completely alone. I repeat, what the _hell_ just happened?" she asked, exasperated and livid.

"What are you talking about, Greengrass?" said Draco with a disbelieving quizzical look on his angular face. "We took you to Vector's office after dinner. We even asked that she didn't let you leave until we came back for you. And when we did, the office was locked. There was nobody there. Isn't that right, Theodore?" He turned back to the dark-haired boy and stared intently at him.

Theodore paused, glaring silently at Draco before speaking in a slow, bitterly coerced manner, "Yes. That's right."

Astoria suddenly realized that she just had a direct conversation with Draco Malfoy. He didn't speak to her through Theodore; he spoke right at her. This, coupled with the unusually hostile way Theodore was behaving towards Draco, tipped her off that something wasn't right.

"What were you two going on about just before I came?" Astoria asked suspiciously.

"Chess," Draco said confidently, staring fixedly at Theodore. "Your boyfriend is a sore loser." She was not convinced. Of the chess part, that is. She knew what an awful sore loser Theodore could be.

Theodore looked down as if just realizing they were at a chess table and then motioned towards Astoria, "Come, darling. Let's get you dry. You must be freezing." He led her out of the common room and into the boys' dormitories. Since it was the weekend, the rules were relaxed, not that the head of Slytherin house really did much to enforce them anyway. Astoria was so frazzled she hadn't realized how cold and exhausted she was. Theodore's room was empty – his roommates were either in the common room or in the girls' dorms with their better halves. He performed a quick-drying spell and then sat his tired girlfriend on the bed. "What happened, Tori?" he asked with gentle concern.

She was numb at this point. Not just from the cold, but from everything. She didn't know who to trust or what to believe. Losing time was maddening. And draining. "I don't want to talk about it right now." She stripped off her robes lazily with a distant stare as Theo helped her. She was so tired that she barely noticed the renewed sores encircling her wrists and ankles. She lay down in her underwear on the bed and curled up into a ball, burying her face in Theodore's black, satin pillow. It smelled like his hair gel, like pear brandy. He disrobed down to his form-fitting, white cotton t-shirt and black briefs, drew the curtains around his bed, uttering, "_Nox,"_ before cuddling up behind Astoria. He put his lip to her ear as he pulled her closer with his arms and whispered, "I won't let anybody hurt you, I promise." She wanted so badly to believe it, as Theodore's warmth encompassed her, but just couldn't. The sinking feeling that Theodore and Draco had something to do with the strange happenings plagued her mind until she fell uneasily into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Astoria woke up before Theodore. She put on his bathrobe, which was draped over the bedpost, grabbed her clothes, and slipped through the curtains to find the room still empty. The other beds lay bare with the curtains open. She smirked and said to herself, "Looks like the boys got lucky last night." It was much too early for any right-minded Slytherin to be awake on a Saturday morning. The common room was deserted, save for a couple who had fallen asleep on the chaise lounge. She crept silently into the girls' dorms, into her room, and back into bed. She wasn't quite ready to start her day either. She lifted her pillow to take out her diary and found an ornate glass vial perched on top of it. It rolled down onto the bed and it's liquid silver contents swirled within. She picked it up and inspected it, uncertain of what it was. A potion, perhaps? It certainly wasn't hers. She put it aside and opened her diary. Inside the front cover was a slip of parchment, and on it, written with red, splotchy ink, were the words, "To Astoria: A Memory".

She leapt from her bed and ran across the corridor to the seventh-years' room. She tiptoed up to Pansy's bed, which still had the curtains drawn. Astoria knew from the fact that Theodore's bedroom had been otherwise empty when she left it that Draco was most likely in Pansy's bed. Rather than wake up the sleeping couple herself, or Millicent and Vincent for that matter, she decided to rouse Tracey Davis, who, as far as she knew, never took boys to her bed. She startled the girl when she slid onto her bed, but put her finger to her lips to silence her. "Tracy, I need you to do me a favor. I will give you anything you want if you do this for me. Wake up Pansy and tell her to meet me in the bathroom."

"Now?" Tracey asked sleepily. Astoria nodded. Tracey rolled her heavy eyes and stumbled out of bed. Astoria silently ran out of the room and waited in the girls' bathroom with the glass vial clutched tightly in her sweaty palm.

"What the hell is that?" Pansy asked, her voice rough with sleep, as she eyed the vial ruefully for inciting Astoria to summon her to view it at such an ungodly hour.

"A memory. Somebody left it in my room," she replied, excited by the prospect of perhaps unlocking the mystery of her lost time.

"So?" Pansy groaned.

"So, let's look at it," said Astoria excitedly.

Pansy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yawned as she asked, "How?"

"We need a pensieve."

Pansy intoned with a raspy, sing-song-y voice heavily laden with sarcasm as she shuffled towards the door, "Sorry, I'm clean out of pensieves at the moment."

"Professor Snape has one in his office. I'm sure of it. I saw it when he tried to extract my memory."

"So go ask him, then," Pansy said over her shoulder as she made her way slowly though the bathroom door.

Astoria stopped her from leaving with her hand on her arm. "Pans, I can't just go waltzing up to the Headmaster and say, hey, mind if I use your pensieve for a moment?"

"Oh, and I suppose you think _I_ can," Pansy scoffed.

"Yes, Pansy. He lets you get away with murder. You're like his new pet or something. Snape loves you." Flattery went a long way with her friend.

Pansy blushed and looked smugly. "Well, I guess Severus Snape _is_ my bitch. I'll see what I can do."

Professor Snape was reluctant to let Astoria view the memory alone, without his supervision. But he also knew that, if the memory were indeed hers, she was entitled to privacy. He left them in the office and retreated to the adjacent study. Astoria poured the contents of the glass vial into the pensieve. It shimmered and swirled in the stone basin. She suddenly felt afraid to face the truth and grasped Pansy's hand. "I want you to watch it with me," she said in a nervous whisper.

"Are you sure?" Pansy didn't really appear hesitant; in fact, she looked intrigued.

Astoria sighed, "I don't think I could handle it alone if it turns out bad."

Soon, they were falling into the pensieve, floating into the memory, and watching, as if viewing a film, but through the camera eye itself. Astoria's vision was blurry at first – a fuzzy form in the vague shape of a pale human was before her. Once the vision cleared, it was apparent that Draco Malfoy was standing there, smirking down with a self-satisfied grin. But he looked younger, perhaps fifth or sixth year, his features not quite so sharp as she knew them to be now.

"Draco?" issued a male voice from within her vantage point. "What happened? Where am I?" It was Theodore's voice. This was not Astoria's memory. It was his. "I was just walking back from Astoria's room a second ago," he declared as he surveyed his surroundings. He appeared to be in the changing room beside the Quidditch pitch. "How the hell did I get here?"

Astoria could not only see what Theodore was seeing, but feel what he was experiencing and think what he was thinking. It wasn't quite like re-living the moment, but more akin to inhabiting his body. Theodore was confused and a bit sleepy, as if he were drunk. He made a motion to move from his position and found that he was bound to a wooden beam that rose from the floor to the vaulted ceiling. He was standing, his hands were tied behind his back and his ankles were tethered together and fixed to the beam with rope. "What the fuck is going on, Malfoy?"

Draco smiled mischievously and drawled, "Sorry, Theo. It was the only way." There was something about the evil gleam in Malfoy's eye that made Theodore panic.

"Fucking hell, Draco. This isn't funny. Untie me, you prat."

Malfoy didn't say anything. He just stood there, staring at Theodore with the most unusual look on his fair countenance. It was the look of a wicked imp, eager to commit mischief. There was a sparkle in his grey eyes that could only be described as desire. Wait, a minute . . . _desire_? Draco placed his hands on Theodore's shoulders, not in a friendly way, but in a predatory way, and continued to stare him down silently, his eyes burning deep into Theodore. He'd never seen his friend look so demonic and it unsettled him.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" Theodore asked with a nervous twitch to his haughty voice. Draco slid his hand down off his shoulder, gently resting the tips of his fingers on Theodore's chest, all the while, never breaking his desirous gaze. Astoria could feel Theodore's pulse flutter before speeding to a gallop. His mouth was dry with tense anticipation and awkwardness – he'd never been this intimately close to Draco before. "Seriously, Draco. What are you doing?" Theodore asked again uneasily.

Draco slowly closed the already discomfortingly small distance between their faces, brushing Theodore's cheek with his own, letting his lips come to a gentle halt at his ear. "You've wanted this for a very long time," Draco said in low drawl, his hot breath making the hair on the back of Theodore's neck raise with both alarm and involuntary excitement.

Theodore spoke both calmly and forcefully like a foul-mouthed, incensed prince, "Malfoy, you untie me right now, you motherfucking ponce, or I swear to Merlin, I'll . . ."

As Theodore was spurting threats he was unable to carry out, due to the fact that he was bound and wandless, Draco was tracing his fingers slowly down his chest and breathing into his neck. "Don't fight it. You know you want it."

"Get your fucking hands off me, Draco. I'm going to pummel you into the ground, I swear to fucking god," Theodore said through gritted teeth, still not raising his voice.

Draco whispered wantonly into his neck, "Promise?" as his fingers gently fell to Theodore's belt buckle.

This inflamed Theodore. "Cut it out, Malfoy! Now! It isn't funny!"

Draco began to unbuckle Theodore's belt, causing the boy to struggle uselessly against his bindings. "What are you doing? Stop it. Seriously, mate. This joke isn't funny in the least," Theodore protested with a panicky quiver to his voice. Draco swiftly unbuttoned Theodore's trousers and then yanked them down to his ankles. "Not fucking funny, Malfoy." Astoria could feel a heat rise within Theodore's body as both fearful apprehension and anticipation crept up his spine in the most confusing juxtaposition of emotions. Draco put his hands on Theodore's waist and gave him one last eager, piercing stare before dropping to his knees. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Theodore spat condescendingly as his heartbeat raced, threatening to burst forth from his chest.

Draco looked up at him with a wicked smirk and replied smugly, "Giving you what you've been wanting for years."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Theodore asked defensively.

"Relax, Theodore. It's going to be OK," Draco said with the soothing tone of an alluring predator as he pulled down Theodore's underwear and then smiled victoriously at what he found beneath. He gave a low, closed-lipped chuckle and said, "I thought so."

Theodore was a little more than half hard and utterly humiliated. "Sod off, Malfoy," he said meekly, his voice cracking. Astoria could sense a shameful, deep longing overwhelming Theodore and felt a pang of pity for him. Then she caught herself, realizing that this was her _boyfriend's_ emotion's she was experiencing, and became slightly resentful. She watched Draco take the base of Theodore's cock into his hand and guide it to his mouth. He enveloped it hungrily with his lips and Theodore's body responded with sheer delight. As Draco moved expertly over Theodore's rapidly growing erection, Astoria's feelings of resentment soon turned into feelings of absolute betrayal. She could feel his pleasure, his disgrace, and the devastating realization that, yes, he had indeed been secretly yearning for this for a very long time. She was mortified, but could not remove her face from the pensieve. It was oddly riveting to experience oral sex from her boyfriend's point of view.

Theodore sighed, "I fucking hate you, Draco. Oh, god, I fucking _hate_ you so much." But by the way he spoke so wantonly, it sounded like 'hate' should have been replaced with its antonym.

Draco sucked Theodore's cock with the fervor of a demon, holding it at its base and swathing it adoringly with his mouth, moving along the engorged shaft with calculated precision, teasing every ridge with his tongue. Theodore clamped his eyes shut, unwilling to believe that his best mate was sucking him off and that he was honestly and thoroughly enjoying it. He hazarded a peek and nearly lost it. The sight of the white-blonde head bowing down at his crotch, worshiping his cock with his lips, was so unbelievably arousing. This was the head of the boy who he grew up with, the head that rested in the bed across from Theodore's for over five years, the same head of hair he ruffled during playful wrestling matches, the very same head he would smack with an open palm when stupid things uttered forth from it. But the fact that this fair-haired head belonged to none other than Draco Malfoy, the godlike epicenter of all that was Slytherin and pure, and that this head was bobbing up and down on _his_ cock, was unbelievably empowering. It wasn't long before he was releasing years of unspoken pent-up sexual tension into Draco's mouth in short spurts, all the while moaning, "I hate you." Draco swallowed enthusiastically and then sat back on the floor with a gloriously triumphant smile, propping himself up on his arms in a leisurely pose.

"Untie me now. I'm going to beat you to within an inch of your life," Theodore said, breathless and panting, high on the sweet delirium of orgasm.

Draco swished his wand and the ropes unraveled, unleashing the other boy. Theodore hastily pulled up his trousers and then flew upon Draco, grabbing fistfuls of his sweater as he knocked him flat on his back. Theodore growled, "You're so fucking dead, Malfoy." But instead of pummeling him into the ground with his fists as he had promised, Theodore kissed Draco ardently, almost spitefully, on the lips. Theodore released his grip on Draco's sweater, redirecting his grasp onto his blonde hair – that magnificently smooth, platinum hair he envied so much. Draco moaned into Theodore's open mouth as he laced his fingers around the back of his neck. They kissed feverishly, tongues entwining and lips engulfing relentlessly, disregarding the whole notion of how wrong this was. Astoria watched, seething with jealousy, bitter that Theodore had never kissed _her_ with this much passion.

With a swift motion, Draco turned Theodore onto his back and straddled him, taking control of the kiss. His kisses were hungry and feral, full of teeth and saliva. Theodore could feel Draco's erection pressing against him through his trousers, renewing a whole other sensation of want. Then Draco sat up, perched upon the dark-haired boy, and quickly undid his own trousers. He pulled out his erection and held it tauntingly. It was longer by perhaps an inch or so, but Theodore didn't feel envy – he felt an urgent need welling up inside. Draco's cock was just as beautiful and regal as the boy himself, so smooth and perfect as if it were hewn from white marble. His pubic hair was so fine and light it was almost non-existent, giving Draco the appearance of being nubile. He was so hard that it looked painful – the pale skin pulled so tightly across the shaft that it had a slight sheen to it, revealing thick, engorged veins beneath, capillary beds so blood-filled that it tinged the flesh a burning rose color. He pumped it slowly, presenting it to Theodore to admire. "Do you want me, Theodore?" Draco asked seductively. Theodore nodded hesitantly. Draco moved forward so that he was straddling Theodore at the shoulders. He leaned over, supporting his upper body weight with one hand on the floor above Theodore's head, and thrust his cock into the boy's mouth. Theodore gagged and emitted a muffled protest, but then remembered to take the advice he often gave Astoria and did his best to breathe through his nose. As he caught his breath and the initial shock subsided, Theodore began to give in eagerly to the delicious excitement of this new sensation – the feel of Draco Malfoy's cock sliding in and out of his mouth. He moaned around it, massaging it with his tongue and gripping it enthusiastically with his lips. He inhaled the subtle nuances of Draco's scent, the sensual smell of his sweat and pre-ejaculate, and the faint trace of gardenia. It filled his head and made him dizzy with the thought that he was this close to Malfoy. He reached up and grasped Draco's arse, urging him to go further. Theodore was fully erect again and began to stroke himself as Draco fucked his mouth. Then it ended as quickly and as explosively as it began, with a chorus of euphoric moans and grunts, as both boys came vigorously, Draco into Theodore's mouth and Theodore onto his sweater. Draco tasted like everything at once: salty, sour, bitter, and sweet as Theodore let his come swirl over his tongue, unsure of what to do with it. There was no way he was going to swallow. As incredible as he made him feel, that was his limit. As soon as Draco dismounted him, Theodore turned and emptied his mouth onto the floor.

"That's interesting," began Draco, surveying him with an amused smirk, "I thought you were a swallower."

Theodore made a sour face and said, "No fucking way. I'm no ponce."

"Oh, no?" Draco challenged with a raised eyebrow. "You suck cock like a ponce. I doubt I was your first," he said as he charmed his softening member clean and pulled up his pants.

"I told you, Malfoy. I'm no poofter. I've never done that before and I'll never do it again." Theodore stood up slowly, knowing he'd still be dizzy, performed the same cleaning charm on himself and fumbled to quickly return his appearance to the normal, well-put-together, aristocratic, _straight_ boy.

"Wasn't it good?" Draco said with a confident smile, as if he already knew Theodore's answer.

Theodore sat on one of the long wooden benches in the changing room and slumped over, resting his hands on his knees, hanging his head low. He clamped his eyes shut, trying so hard to will away the feeling of utter bliss that was still lingering in him, then let out a long, deep sigh.

"Was it _that_ horrible?" Draco laughed.

"It was bloody brilliant," Theodore admitted, almost bitterly, as he looked up at his friend, unable to contain his smile any longer.

"Fucking amazing," Draco corrected him with an equally satisfied grin. They both laughed. Theodore was still in disbelief and found the situation so outlandish that it was funny in a sick, twisted way. Draco sat next to him on the bench and took two cigarettes from his shirt pocket, lit them both with his wand, and gave one to Theodore. They smoked in silence for a while, letting the reality sink in.

"I'm not gay, OK?" insisted Theodore.

"OK," said Draco, not convinced.

"Malfoy, I'm straight. I have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, so? She never has to know about it."

"Does Pansy know you do this?"

"You say it like you think I do this all the time."

"Well do you?"

He replied as if it were nothing. "Not all the time, but . . . yeah. I've done it a bunch of times before."

Theodore asked, feeling a little disappointed that he was not the only one, "With who?"

Casually, Draco asnwered, "With Blaise once or twice."

"No surprise there," Theodore scoffed.

"And once with this boy I met while on holiday in France. And once with this bloke in the park. But I've done it many, many times with . . ." Draco lifted Theodore's face gently by the chin so that they were looking directly at one another, "with you, Theodore." The blonde boy's evil, mischievous smirk returned. Theodore was utterly perplexed by this remark, as his face probably depicted. But before he could open his mouth to question him, Draco pointed his wand at him and incanted, "_Stupefy!_" as a bolt of red light hit his face.

Then everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4: The First Time

"To Steal Time"

By Stacy Galore

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Jo Rowling does. I just play with them.

_Warnings: (may not apply to all chapters) strong language and explicit sexual situations including, but not limited to, non-con and slash_

Chapter 4: The First Time

Astoria and Pansy lifted their heads out of the pensieve together. Astoria sat hard on the floor, clutched her legs tightly against her body, and said, "I think I'm going to be sick." Pansy crouched down and put her hand on her shoulder, which Astoria swat away with an angry glare. "You must have known," Astoria accused in a low growl.

Pansy sat tentatively beside her and heaved a heavy sigh. "Not entirely." Astoria continued to glare furiously at her friend, waiting for an explanation. "I know that Draco has his flings. But I honestly didn't know about Theo. It's quite as much of a shock to me as it is to you."

"You don't seem upset by it," Astoria said with the same accusatory tone.

Pansy said with a hesitant quiver to her voice, trying to reassure her friend, "Tori, it's not a big deal. It's just a bit of experimentation."

Astoria said with an outraged shriek, causing Pansy to flinch, "Not a big deal? Experimentation?! Pansy, your _boyfriend_ was fucking _my_ boyfriend's mouth! I think they've gone well past experimentation!"

The swirl of emotions inside was overwhelming. She was way beyond the point of crying and instead seethed with anger and betrayal, clenching her fists tightly. Professor Snape entered the office from the study, no doubt roused by Astoria's shouting. "Is there a problem, Miss Greengrass? Miss Parkinson?" he asked with a suspicious glance at each of them.

Astoria stood up and said, "No, sir."

"Did the memory answer any questions for you?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, it only raised more questions, professor," she replied.

"If the security of one of my students is at stake, then it is imperative that I know the contents of that memory," stated Professor Snape authoritatively.

"It's nothing sir," she dismissed soberly. "Thank you for letting me use the pensieve, professor."

"Remember, Miss Greengrass, and this goes for you too Miss Parkinson – Hogwarts is not as safe as it once was. And if anyone is threatening my students, I need to know about it, even if it _is_ another student who is the aggressor."

Astoria could have told Headmaster Snape everything and exposed her friends, particularly Draco. But she didn't want to hurt Pansy like that, even though she was positively livid with her best friend. She simply nodded and turned to leave the office swiftly. Pansy followed behind her.

Before they exited, Snape called after them, "Miss Parkinson, if you've any time today, the bookshelves in my study need dusting again."

"Of course, professor," Pansy said jovially with a sassy grin that seemed much too informal to give the headmaster of their school. "I'll be back later."

Once outside the office, Astoria declared moodily, "I need a fag."

"Can I join you? I'll understand if you say no," said Pansy.

"We need to talk," Astoria said heavily.

Of course, the Slytherin royal court was presiding on the black leather sofa when the girls returned to the common room. Draco took his usual position, sprawled out on the couch, with Theodore in his usual spot on the floor in front of him, lounging on the fluffy, white bearskin rug. Theodore looked up as Astoria approached and asked sincerely with a tender smile, "Tori, where were you all morning? I missed you at breakfast."

Astoria scowled and spat, "Don't fucking talk to me," as she tread heavily and swiftly passed them towards the girls' dorms.

Theodore sat up with a jerk and a baffled look on his face. "Tori," he whined after her, sounding annoyed.

Draco remained in his languid pose with a bemused smirk spreading across his pale face as his sharp, silver eyes followed Astoria's angry glare all the way to the girls' dormitory.

The girls entered the bathroom and Pansy ordered everyone out. Astoria pushed open the window and sat on the ledge then lit a cigarette for each of them. She inhaled deeply and blew out the smoke, watching it waft out the window. Then she turned to her friend sitting on the opposite side of the large window and said, "You've been lying to me." Her voice was low and deceptively calm, but anger bubbled up inside her, threatening to spill over in a torrent of hateful words. But Astoria kept her cool. She knew that she needed answers out of Pansy and this was the only way she could get them.

"No, I haven't, Astoria. I swear to Merlin," she said honestly.

"You knew exactly what was going on and you didn't say anything," Astoria said, pointing her cigarette at Pansy before taking another drag.

"Tori, I didn't know. Like I said before, I knew Draco has been with boys. He's quite up front with me about that and I'm totally cool with it. But I had no idea he did anything with Theodore. He never told me."

"So are you going to break up with him?" Astoria asked challengingly.

"No."

"Why not? He lied to you. And he's a sick motherfucker to boot. He tied up my boyfriend and gave him a blowjob. And furthermore, why do you still want to be with him if he's gay?"

Astoria's torrent overwhelmed Pansy, who didn't know what issue to address first. "Tori, calm down and listen to me for a second." She took a long drag from her cigarette and started again. "First of all, Draco isn't gay. I can't speak for Theo, but I suspect he isn't either."

Astoria rolled her eyes and huffed, "I don't know, Pans. They both looked pretty fucking gay to me."

"You're so naïve, Tori. The world isn't divided into black and white. Gay and straight. There's a lot of grey area there. I've always understood that Draco is bisexual and we have an open relationship because of it."

She scoffed, "Seems rather one-sided for an open relationship. Draco gets to sleep around with other boys while you wait patiently on the side."

Pansy gave a small, knowing chuckle. "No, its not like that. Not at all. I'm allowed to have my flings too. But that story is for another time."

"Fine. So our boyfriends are _bisexual_," Astoria said it as if the word tasted awful on her tongue. "I don't think I can ever be with Theodore again knowing he sucked another boy's cock – ugh!" She shivered with disgust.

"You're going to break up with him?" Pansy asked with surprise.

"Of course. It's what your twisted, manipulative boyfriend wants me to do anyway. Why else would he give me that memory?"

Pansy suddenly turned quiet, pale, and sober. "I . . . I don't know."

"Pansy, now you're being the naïve one. Don't you see what's happening? My memories have been stolen three times in the past few weeks. Draco stunned Theodore, stole his memory, and gave it to me. Who the fuck do you think has been stealing _my_ memories?" Pansy flicked her cigarette out the window and slid off the window ledge then made her way towards the door. Her face was pinched into an angry glower, and she looked like she was about to cry. "Pansy, wait. Where are you going?"

"I don't know," she said, trying uselessly to hide back angry tears. "I can't be around you right now."

Astoria let Pansy go. There was no use badgering her anymore. She tossed her cigarette butt out the window and lit another one. As she chain-smoked, she thought about the implications of the returned memory. If Draco did this to Theodore, then he must have done something similar to her. But she had a sinking feeling that whatever he did to her was ten times worse, if the scars on her wrists and ankles were any indication. Pansy must have just realized it too. Which must be why she was so upset. Astoria once again felt numb – she should have felt a number of strong emotions including anger, betrayal, disgust, shock. But she felt surprisingly calm. It wasn't just the cigarettes. It was the relief that she was finally beginning to understand what had been happening to her, and that she really wasn't going mad. The reality of the awful details hadn't quite sunk in yet. Part of her didn't want them to because she had no idea how to handle it.

Theodore must have known all along. Why else would he adamantly refuse to acknowledge something dreadful was happening to Astoria? He _knew_ all along and he denied it! He did nothing to stop it! How _dare_ he profess his love for her while lying to protect Draco. _That bastard!_ Astoria bolted angrily out the door and into the common room. She strode up to Theodore, who looked as if he was anticipating something scathing to come hurling out of Astoria's mouth. He rose from the floor to take it like a man and no doubt to exert his control over her.

"You fucking coward!" Astoria exclaimed as she slapped Theodore across the face. He looked both shocked and irate as he grabbed her by the wrist to prevent her from hitting him again. Draco looked on from his languorous position on the couch with a smug grin on his face, on the verge of triumphant laughter. She shouted, disregarding the fact that the room was quite populated, "Why didn't you just break up with me if you wanted to fuck Malfoy so badly?!"

The entire crowded common room stopped dead silent and jaws dropped. Theodore looked absolutely, demonically, livid. Draco sat up and smirked like a sadistic anarchist watching the chaos he created unfurl splendidly before him. Theodore let go of Astoria, turned around slowly, and glared at Draco, who did not break his amused countenance. With controlled fury, Theodore said, "What did you tell her?"

"I told her nothing," Draco responded haughtily, but his mischievous grin said otherwise.

Astoria pulled the glass vial from her pocket and displayed it in her hand wordlessly. She didn't have to say anything. Both Draco and Theodore knew what it was.

Still with a calm voice, quivering so slightly with rage, Theodore said to Draco, "I'm going to fucking murder you, Malfoy." All the while, Draco smiled evilly. Theodore's nostrils flared and his fist clenched then came down heavily on Draco's chin. The common room inhabitants let out a collective "ooh!" Vincent and Gregory shot up from their seats to defend their leader, but Theodore was not deterred.

The impact threw Draco backwards into the couch. He rubbed his smarting jaw with his lithe fingers, but appeared otherwise unaffected. "That was harsh, Theodore. You never hit me in the face."

Before Theodore could continue pounding on Draco, Astoria interjected with surprising authority,

"I need answers! Now! From both of you!"

From the self-satisfied smirk on Draco's face, this must have been exactly what he wanted. He stood up and said, "Very well. I do believe some privacy is in order unless," he glanced provocatively at Theodore and raised an eyebrow, "you want this to play out publicly. You _are_ a drama queen after all, Theodore."

Theodore was so fuming with contained rage that smoke could have come out of his ears. "You're asking for a thorough thrashing, Malfoy." He looked ready to unleash violence upon Draco, and the blonde boy reveled in the fury he solicited.

Draco replied presumptuously, "Save your wrath for the bedroom, darling. Right now your girlfriend wants an explanation," which did nothing to quiet Theodore's temper.

They went to the boys' dorms and into the room that Theodore and Draco shared with Blaise, Vincent, and Gregory. Luckily, it was empty. As soon as the door closed, Astoria unleashed her anger upon her boyfriend, shaking her finger at him. "You knew all along. You knew Draco was doing this to me. Didn't you?"

"Darling, I swear to you, I was only trying to protect you," Theodore insisted tenderly.

"Bollocks! You were protecting _him."_ Astoria's eyes shot daggers at Draco, who sat casually on his bed.

"Tori, that's ridiculous, I was,"

Astoria cut off Theodore and asked, "Do you love him?" with a finger pointed reproachfully at Draco and her other hand on her hip.

Theodore froze as all the blood drained from his face, rendering his already-pale cheeks sallow. He began meekly, "Astoria, don't be silly, you know I,"

"Do . . .you . . . love . . . him?" she repeated, annunciating the worlds sharply.

"Darling, you should know the answer to that, I,"

"Fine. Don't give me a straight answer. Tell me this though. How many times were you with Malfoy?" she interrogated.

Theodore shifted his stance uncomfortably and rubbed his forehead as if it hurt him to think about it, sighing, "I don't know."

"Give me a rough estimate," she demanded.

"Tell her or I will. In lurid detail," said Draco tauntingly.

"Five," Theodore whispered with his face still buried in his hand, "that I'm aware of." He looked up and glared at Draco. "Before that, I don't know, because he took my memories."

Astoria was unprepared for the blunt fact that her boyfriend had been with another boy so many times. Just knowing and witnessing it once was enough to break her heart. Knowing all the details would probably kill her, but she asked anyway. "Did you have sex with him?"

"Not that I am aware of," Theodore answered, still glaring angrily at Draco.

"When was the last time you were with him?" she probed.

He admitted, "About six months ago, as far as I know."

The fact that this was recent history made Astoria absolutely ill, still she questioned on. "Does he force you to do it?"

Theodore looked down with disgrace and shook his head to answer negatively. "Not anymore."

She was crying now, unable to control herself any longer. "I can't even stand to look at you right now. You make sick." Theodore appeared to be on the verge of shameful tears himself. Astoria was filled with jealousy and resentment, and knew it was exactly what Draco wanted. He watched them with cruel pleasure as a relationship that had been building for years, one that held such promise, unraveled and crumbled in a matter of minutes.

Astoria turned to Draco and approached him, her brow furrowed, her cheeks wet with tears, and her hands clenched. He looked up at the ceiling and crossed his arms, arrogantly refusing to meet her eyes. She grabbed his pointed chin with her hand and forced him to face her. "Look at me, damn it. Tell me what you did to me." His icy grey stare met her silver-blue eyes and she immediately understood why they never looked directly at one-another. It was dangerously electrifying.

"Why tell you when I can show you?" Draco raised an eyebrow and smirked lasciviously. He slid off the bed and stood before Astoria. She stepped back with anticipation and reached into her pocket for her wand.

He snorted, "I don't mean like _that_ Greengrass. You can put your wand away." He crouched down at her feet then extended his arm beneath his bed. He pulled out a wooden box with ornate, mother-of-pearl inlay and a large alabaster bowl. He then took both heavy items, one under each arm, and placed them on his desk beside the bed. He opened the box, and within it were about a dozen glass vials with shimmering liquid inside, each with a white ribbon tied around it. He picked one up and read the inscription on the ribbon then leered knowingly. "That was a good one. But not the one I want to show you. I'm assuming you want to see them in chronological order." He replaced the vial in the box and delicately went through all the stolen memories until he found what he was looking for. "Here it is. The very first time." Draco held it up reverently and let the sun catch the sparkly liquid. He then poured it out into the bowl, which was apparently a miniature pensieve, large enough for only one viewer. Astoria stood still, unsure of what she should do. She certainly wanted answers, but was not expecting Draco to be this forthcoming. Furthermore, she was a bit frightened by what she was about to see, if it was anything like Theodore's memory. Reluctantly, she sat at the desk and put her face in the pensieve.

Astoria opened her eyes and met moonlight shining through a skylight on the ceiling. The smell of stale sweat, grass, and dust was in the air. She looked to her right and saw green and silver sporting robes in wooden cubbies. She looked to her left and saw brooms hanging on the wall. From this, she deduced that she was in the Slytherin qudditch locker rooms, but had no idea why. The last thing she remembered was running back to the dorms from the library, which felt like a fraction of a second ago. She went to sit up and found that she was lying on a long, low wooden bench with her hands tied behind her beneath the seat. Her legs were planted on the floor on either side of the bench and her ankles were tethered together. A rush of panic flooded her body, chilling her with cold sweat. She pulled her arms and her legs, trying to move out of her position, but she was tied in such a way that prevented her from doing so.

"Help!" she shouted, her voice echoing hopelessly in the deserted room. "Is anybody there?" Dead silence. "_Accio wand!"_ she incanted. Nothing. Silence prevailed for a terrifyingly long minute, then came the distant sound of footsteps on the tile floor from behind her. She could not turn to see who was there. "Help! Please! I'm in here! I'm tied up! Help me, please!" she pleaded. The footsteps stopped. Silence. Then the sound began to approach her. The fact that this sound was not accompanied by a voice was quite ominous, and she immediately regretted drawing attention to herself. She shook with fear as the sound came closer and closer. The unseen person's stride was slow and menacing as it reverberated off the ceramic floor and the vaulted ceiling. Astoria froze and held her breath as the sound reached within inches of her and stopped. She arched her head back, trying to see who was behind her, but couldn't. "What do you want?" she asked with a quivering voice, the taste of adrenaline-tinged terror on her tongue.

Two slow steps brought the upside-down face of the approaching menace to meet hers. She gazed up at the pale, emotionless, marble-like countenance of Draco Malfoy. For a second, she hoped that his presence was coincidental and that his intentions were benevolent. "Malfoy, thank Merlin you found me," she said with fear, still in her voice. "Help me, please."

The fact that he said nothing indicated that he was not just there by chance and that his intentions were far from benevolent. He strode to the side of the bench where she could see him properly. He swooped his robe behind him and lifted his leg to then rest on the floor on the other side of the bench, straddling Astoria in a standing position. Draco's eyes were cold and grey, and fixed upon her, as he stood silently regarding the girl with an unreadable expression on his face.

"OK, Draco. Real funny. Jokes over, now untie me," she said, feebly attempting to will the situation into something lighter. The boy's silence just terrified her even more.

He stood over her for a tense minute doing absolutely nothing but staring, yet his presence and his dominant stance over her petrified Astoria. She was breathing heavily and sweating, tugging uselessly on the ropes that bound her. Her bindings were digging into her cold, wet, skin, rubbing them raw. Finally Draco moved. He took off his robe in a single, slow, fluid movement and let it cascade to the floor, all the while still glaring at her. He lifted the bottom of his sweater to reveal a conspicuous bulge in his trousers then unbuckled his belt. As he undid the buttons and zipper at a snail's pace, his countenance began to change. He furrowed his brow. His breathing quickened. His eyes were ablaze with contemptuous desire.

"Please don't," Astoria whispered as she shook her head slowly, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, blurring her vision. She blinked and let the tears fall down her temples, pooling in her ear.

Draco slid his hand into his trousers, pulled out his erection, and grasped it at its base. He never closed his eyes nor averted his gaze as he slowly moved his hand up the length of his organ. This was quite revolting to Astoria for many reasons. First, this was Draco Malfoy, the bratty boy who regarded her as trash. Second, this was her best friend's boyfriend – _how utterly creepy_. Third, and most evidently disgusting, he was wanking himself while she was forced to watch. Yet Astoria found that she could not look away from the vulgar sight before her. Draco's throbbing cock commanded her attention. He smoothed its reddened, blood-filled head with his thumb, catching the pearly bead of wetness from the slit, and than glided his hand back down to the base, pulling back his foreskin as he did so. As she watched him stroke his cock with calculatingly slow movements, her horror melted into shameful, rapt, fascination. Astoria was absolutely disgusted with _herself_. She was ashamed of the desire growing inside her, despite the voice of reason telling her how very wrong this was on multiple levels. The ropes dug painfully into her wrists as she pulled them taught, straining to be free, aching to touch.

Draco quickened his manipulations and panted erratically, though softly. His ripe, slightly opened mouth momentarily took Astoria's attention away from his cock, as he bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes. She let out a pained groan as she fought the desire to take those lips into her own mouth and taste them. "Oh, god. No."

Then he stopped. His eyes flashed open, scorching her with disdain. He bent forward, holding Astoria's gaze with his own, and began to unbutton her blouse. Astoria could feel his lithe fingers through her shirt as he worked it open. She silently cursed herself for wanting the cloth to disappear. She writhed and protested, unwilling to find out what sensations he would elicit if he actually touched her bare skin. But he never did touch her. Draco continued to stare her down with a mixture of spite, condescension, and lust as he righted himself and resumed stroking his cock with fervor. And, again, Astoria couldn't help but watch avidly. He bent at the knee to bring his raging erection towards her and she fleetingly hoped he would put it in her mouth. "Don't," she groaned without much protest behind her quivering voice. He stopped at her chest and shot streams of hot, white, glistening semen onto her fair skin as he moaned in a restrained whisper.

Draco stood up straight and smirked at Astoria as he put his softening organ away. He lifted his leg over her and straightened his clothing. He showed no indication that he was going to untie her. He picked up his robe from the floor and dusted it off. _Oh, god,_ he was going to leave her like this. How humiliating. She'd be found the next morning with her shirt open and Draco's seed crusted on her chest. Draco put on his robe and smoothed it into place.

"You can't fucking leave me like this! Untie me, Malfoy!" she demanded hysterically as tears threatened to come flooding back.

Draco stood at her side, the smirk still plastered on his triumphantly post-orgasmic countenance. He straddled her again, this time leaning forward to rest his body over hers, his hands on either side of her hips supporting his weight. Astoria drew in a breath and held it. His smirk changed to a wicked smile and his eyes sparkled deviously, demanding her attention. He looked like a prowling tiger, about to rip the throat out of his prey. His movements were so deliberate and drawn out, as if he were performing for her. Draco brought his chin to hover closely above Astoria's chest. He parted his lips and let his tongue slip out, then slowly licked the ribbon of semen just below her collar bone, drawing the sticky mess into his mouth. He closed his eyes, inhaled slowly, and swallowed, savoring his own essence as if it were nectar of the gods. What should have sickened Astoria did quite the opposite. It was the most sensual thing she'd ever witnessed and she had to bite her own tongue to keep from begging Draco to lick her clean. Still, it was so wrong. So very, very wrong. "Stop," she whimpered feebly. Astoria didn't have to beg. Draco came back down to leisurely lick the dollop of come that rested between her small breasts, letting his mouth linger on her skin, his hot breath and fleshy tongue making her nerves unravel. She let out a shivering sigh despite herself. Astoria didn't think it was possible for somebody to fuck her with his eyes or make her orgasm with one touch, but Draco had just ravaged her relentlessly with his silver stare and brought her so close to climaxing with a single kiss.


	5. Chapter 5: Watch

"To Steal Time"

By Stacy Galore

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Jo Rowling does. I just play with them.

_Warnings: (may not apply to all chapters) This story is suitable only for mature readers and contains strong language and explicit sexual situations including, but not limited to, non-con and slash._

Chapter 5: Watch

Astoria was shaking and on the verge of tears yet again after she lifted her face out of the pensieve. Theodore moved swiftly to her side and whined, "I'm so sorry, Tori," and opened his arms to engulf her with his embrace.

But Astoria put her hand out and stopped him. "Don't. Fucking. Touch. Me. You knew this was going on and you did nothing to stop it from happening again." Theodore backed off as she stood up slowly. She was dizzy, in shock, and sickened by the thought of being violated in such a disgusting manner. . . and absolutely appalled that part of her secretly enjoyed it. She shuffled towards the door in a daze and put her hand on the knob.

Draco moved swiftly towards Astoria, extended his arm from behind her, and put his hand on the door, trapping her in place. "You want to see the next one, don't you?" he asked in an enticing whisper as he stood centimeters behind her.

She could not bring herself to meet his cruel eyes again. Astoria spat, "You're a sick, perverted maniac, Malfoy."

With his hand still on the door, he leaned forward to drawl conceitedly in her ear, "You know you love it, Greengrass." She closed her eyes tightly and trembled as she fought the desperate urges welling up inside her. Anger and arousal played tug-of-war in Astoria's mind as the close proximity of Draco's lips to her face made her want to bruise them with her fists as well as with her kiss.

"Let her go, Malfoy," said Theodore with a sad, dejected voice.

Draco lifted his hand off the door and gave a low, grumbling laugh, "You'll be back."

Astoria left the room and shut the door quickly behind her. She let her grasp linger on the doorknob as she listened to the melee that ensued upon her exit. There was muffled shouting, mostly Theodore, and probably a physical altercation along with some hexes exchanged. Let the boys fight. Let them kill each other. She didn't care anymore.

Needless to say, things were not the same after that day. Astoria and Theodore, of course, broke up without even having to exchange words. She wondered if he ever really loved her – maybe he did a long time ago, but Draco changed everything. If Theodore truly did care for her, he would have done everything in his power to protect her and would have severed his ties with Draco the moment he realized he had been abusing her. Why didn't Theodore just break up with her a long time ago? Why bother pretending and lying for Merlin knows how long, perhaps _years_? There was never any question that she loved Theodore, and probably would continue to do so for a while despite everything. But she could not be with him if she couldn't trust him and if he didn't feel the same way about her. He didn't even try to make amends with her – this made her feel utterly foolish. She felt stupid for believing that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

Astoria just wanted to erase him from her memory – it was ironic, considering what caused their rift.

The only solution was to exile herself from the Slytherin royal court. Interestingly, the royal court changed very little otherwise and it hurt her to know she wasn't missed. Pansy, as to be expected, stayed with Draco, forever loyal and willing to take all of his shit just to remain his girlfriend. For a few days, Theodore moped ostentatiously away from the group in plain view of all the female vultures ready to descend upon Astoria's discarded boyfriend. Soon, he returned to his position as official Malfoy worshiper. And the Slytherin royal court carried on as if nothing happened, as though she had always been a useless appendage – completely expendable and easily replaced. She was just waiting for the next girl to fall into her position.

On Astoria's part, days of brooding and being anti-social turned to weeks. Astoria plunged into her studies like a dedicated Ravenclaw, spending as much time in the library as she could, partially to avoid being in the Slytherin dormitories. Since she cut herself off from all her friends, there was never anybody to walk with (well, nobody she _wanted_ to walk with), as Professor Snape had suggested. But she never feared walking around the school alone at night. The mystery was solved. She doubted Malfoy would bother accosting her again. But a secret part of her, lurking in the very darkest depths of her mind, longed for an unexpected encounter in a deserted corridor. Because as much as Astoria loathed him, and as disgusted as she was with what he had done to her, nobody ever aroused such animalistic desires in her like Draco did. Though she went out of her way _not_ to see him, it was unavoidable – they lived under the same roof, after all. But in trying so hard to avoid him, she was inadvertently seeking him out, because how can one avert their eyes if they are not aware of what they are looking at? This was her logic. Though if one really studied Astoria's behavior lately, they'd see that she was becoming obsessed with Draco. Everywhere she went she kept an eye out for that blond head in the crowd just to make sure he wasn't paying attention to her. And of course, he wasn't. Who the hell was she to him but a toy he'd quickly became bored of? So on the rare occasions when he looked up and met her silver-blue glare with his own scorching glance, it elicited a surge of heat within. Astoria told herself that what she burned with was rage, but in reality it was an all-consuming flame of desire; a yearning that plagued her like a persistent ailment. It made her sick with want and with the guilt and humiliation that these cravings imposed.

Several times she awoke in her bed, panting and sweaty in the quiet, predawn stillness, roused by her own tortuous dreams; dreams of _him._ In these nocturnal encounters, he'd do nothing but stare at her with those penetrating grey eyes the way he did in the Quidditch changing room. Though he was unbearably close to her, so close that his hot breath on her skin made her shiver, he wouldn't touch her. And even though she was not bound by physical restraints, she couldn't touch him. She would reach out, aching to make contact, but he'd withdraw with an amused smirk, just barely out of her grasp. Astoria would wake up from these dreams so aroused and frustrated that it was painfully necessary to pleasure herself in order to relieve the tension. Each time she climaxed just by visualizing Draco's eyes ravaging her, and each time she wept out of shame. Because it was terribly wrong to want somebody so forbidden. Not to mention how disturbing it was that she actually wanted somebody who took her hostage to do sexually deviant things in her presence; somebody who broke up a relationship for sport; somebody with whom Theodore had cheated on her for years. That was the proverbial nail in the coffin. It killed her to know that she didn't want to reconcile with her boyfriend, rather she wanted his "mistress."

Astoria pondered, on a daily basis, the motivations behind Draco's actions. Why would he have his way with her and then erase her memory only to reveal the truth later? He did the same peculiar thing to Theodore. And why would Draco keep doing it to Theodore even after his victim was aware of his twisted technique of initiating a sexual encounter? It was apparent that Theodore was a willing participant, so there was no need for pretenses – a lewd, whispered solicitation would have sufficed. The explanation lay in some strange fetish that Astoria couldn't even begin to name or understand.

Draco could have easily kept Astoria and Theodore blissfully unaware of anything that had transpired, leaving their Slytherin circle in tact. Obviously he wanted to create an irreparable rift between Astoria and his closest devotees and to utterly destroy her relationship with Theodore. But there were easier ways to achieve the same ends. Why would he go out of his way unless Malfoy harbored such an intense, cruel, hatred for Astoria?

That explanation was too simple and left out one glaring fact: In that one unlocked memory, Draco looked at Astoria ravenously like she was utterly delectable. There was unmistakable desire glowing in his pale eyes. How can you hate something you want so badly? And the reverse question, posed to herself, was: how can you want something that you hate so much?

The mystery of what actually transpired the other two times Draco held her captive was also distressing and played on her curiosity. Had he ever touched her? Did he inflict those wounds around her wrists and ankles, or were they from her own fervent struggle against her bindings? She was so angry with herself for not taking her stolen memories before storming out of Theodore and Draco's room. They were rightfully hers. Asking for them was out of the question. Stealing them back was her only option, and it seemed ridiculously easy. It would have to be a weekend, when the rules of the dormitories were unofficially relaxed. She'd have to wait around in the common room until the boys congregated around their usual spot before making the attempt. Then she'd simply enter the vacated dorm room and take what she was after – she knew exactly where Draco kept the box and the pensieve. She considered taking the pensieve too, but it would be harder to inconspicuously carry it back to her own room.

It was Saturday night. Astoria returned early from dinner and sat waiting in the common room at the far end, opposite the black leather couch and the fireplace. Milicent and Vincent strolled in, arm-in-arm, making eyes at each other. They didn't bother to stop in the common room and went straight for the girls' dormitories. Then the rest of them arrived: Draco sauntered in like he owned the place, closely followed by Pansy, Theodore, Gregory, and Blaise, all merry and carefree. She watched them settle into their positions. Draco sat first on the sofa. Then Pansy sprawled out lengthwise with her legs extended over the cushions, propped her head up on her boyfriend's lap, and flipped open a copy of Witch Weekly. There was a small space between Draco and the armrest, just wide enough for Theodore to squeeze into. Draco protested teasingly by elbowing Theodore in the gut. Theodore followed suit by smacking Draco on the back of the head, setting off a full-on play-fight. Gregory sat on the floor and devoured the rest of his chocolate cupcake, then wiped his hands on the white rug upon which he was sitting (the house elves would clean it later). Blaise, elegant as ever, leaned on the armrest beside Theodore, posed like an advertisement for designer robes. As she watched them, Astoria realized that she dearly missed her friends and wished they missed her too. After a few minutes, their evening revelry was in full swing. Gregory was chatting up a precocious fourth-year girl who seemed so delighted that a seventh-year boy was actually talking to her. Blaise's flavor-of-the-month, an inhumanly gorgeous Ravenclaw boy Astoria vaguely knew, came by to collect his lover for the evening. Draco and Theodore were still play fighting, and Pansy had grown bored of them, retreating to a gaggle of girls in another part of the room to gossip. It was time.

Astoria casually walked over to the entrance of the boys' dormitories and went in, never raising the attention of anybody in the common room. Once inside the dark, deserted seventh-year boys' room, she moved quickly, kneeling on the floor at the side of Draco's bed as she groped beneath it for the box. She slid it out and began rifling through it by wand light, searching for the vials labeled with her name. It was startling how many vials had _Theodore's_ name. She found the three vials containing her memories and placed them in an inside pocket of her robes. Her curiosity got the best of her. She continued sifting through the box, quickly scanning the labels, wondering if there were any other names. It gave her some sort of comfort, though she didn't know why, that she only found Theodore's name written in red ink on the white ribbons tied delicately around the glass vials. She started paying attention to the dates on the labels and found one that really struck her – it was from Theodore's fourth year, before he started seeing her – he was fourteen. Astoria hesitated only a moment before slipping the vial into her pocket. Then a sound from just outside the door made her jump out of her skin. It was Theodore's unmistakable haughty, booming laughter, intermingled with Draco's condescending chortle. She pushed the case under the bed and dove under with it, wedging herself face-down beneath the low box spring and the floor in what little space remained amongst old books and a large wooden bin. The door creaked open, the gas lamps burst on, and the muffled laughter entered the room at full volume.

"Ouch! You're such a fucking twat, Malfoy!" Theodore chuckled. Draco giggled. There was a scuffle amongst more playful laughter. "Fucking, hell, Draco! That was uncalled for!" he said, not sounding offended in the least.

"Pussy," Draco provoked lightheartedly.

"Cock sucker," Theodore returned in the same joking manner.

"Can I?" Draco asked, still playfully but with a mischievous inflection.

"Fuck you, Malfoy," Theodore laughed.

"Promise?" Draco asked, this time it sounded like a come-on.

"Malfoy," Theodore giggled.

Draco wasn't laughing anymore. "Come here," he said softly.

Astoria saw Theodore's impeccably polished shoes move slowly towards Draco's equally shiny ones. They were both standing very close to the bed, and too close to each other for Astoria's comfort. She heard the soft smacking sounds of lips meeting lips and the escalation of their breathing to a passionate pant. She held her own breath and bit her bottom lip fighting the sob that was growing in her throat. Astoria didn't understand why it hurt so much to hear Theodore and Draco kissing. The box spring pushed on her back, forcing out the breath she was holding, as the two boys fell onto the bed.

"Lock the door," Theodore whispered. Draco uttered locking and security charms.

Astoria listened to the rustle of sheets and clothing and the sickeningly wet sound of deep, hungry snogging. Sweaters and ties were cast down to the floor, soon followed by oxford shirts and then, _oh god no_, trousers and skivvies.

"Are you really going to let me fuck you this time?" Theodore asked hopefully. Astoria's stomach lurched, as if she were punched in the abdomen.

"Of course not. I was only joking," said Draco with an offended tinge to his voice. If Astoria could breathe easily in the cramped space, she would have let out a deep sigh of relief. "You know _I'm_ always on top, Theodore," he asserted, and Astoria's stomach threatened to leap out of her mouth again. "Now be a good boy and get my cock nice and wet."

Theodore gave a growling moan, "You're such a fucking prat."

"You know you love it, Theodore," said Malfoy in the same smoldering, self-confident drawl he had once said the same words to Astoria. She could picture his piercing stare, flaming with desire, and soon the discomfort in her stomach was quelled by her own arousal. Now she understood why it hurt so much. Not because her first true love was with another man, but because she was insanely jealous of them both. Draco was just inches above her, lying gloriously naked with his cock in Theodore's mouth, and she desperately wanted to trade places with Theo. Theodore was making Draco groan with pleasure, driving a rusty nail into her heart for each ecstatic sigh and blissful gasp. It was ridiculous. She shouldn't feel this way – not about Malfoy.

There was a shifting of bodies above, making the bed creak and press against the girl beneath. Astoria knew what was coming and her heart began to race, pounding so loudly in her ears she could have sworn the boys could hear it through the mattress. This time Theodore was moaning. Draco asked provocatively, almost reprimanding him, "You like the way my cock feels against your tight arse, don't you?" Theodore groaned his approval. Then came the smacking sound of a palm against bare skin as Draco asked more forcefully, "Don't you, slut?"

"Yes," Theodore sighed. "Oh god, yes."

"Do you want me inside you?" Draco drawled so seductively and persuasively Astoria imagined that even a nun wouldn't turn him down.

"Yes." Theodore's answer was more of a shivering exhalation than a spoken word.

"Tell me." Draco demanded.

"Yes, I want you," Theodore answered exasperatedly, clearly losing patience with the other boy.

There was another slap. "Say it."

Theodore spoke with that aristocratic assertiveness that used to drive Astoria wild, rekindling her lust for him so sharply, it was like striking a match. "Fuck me. Fuck me, Draco," he said. She was going to lose it. Between Theodore's dead sexy dirty mouth and the thought of Malfoy staring him down with those smoldering eyes of his, she could have had an orgasm right then and there. Suddenly the notion of them fucking wasn't so disgusting after all. The fact that she was so close to them, listening, without them knowing, raised it to a whole unexplored level of sexiness. And she dare say it was _kinky._ Merlin's beard, call the Daily Prophet, Astoria Greengrass had a _kink_!

Theodore grunted as the bed lurched. "Ow, fuck, take it easy," he hissed. "I'm not wet enough." She heard the sound of a drawer opening then several seconds of silence before Theodore was sighing again.

"Better?" Draco didn't sound that concerned.

"Mmm. Much better," Theodore hummed.

Draco teased, "You're such a pussy."

Theodore scoffed, "I'd like to see you take a cock up your ass without lube. See how you like it."

"I bet you would. But it will never happen," Draco asserted, "Now say it again."

Theodore mused with a chuckle. "You and that word. You're just like Tori." Hearing him say her name so casually made Astoria feel a pang of loss.

"There's just something about the way you say it. You're the only one I know who can make profanity sound so . . . so dignified. I can't explain it." Astoria knew exactly what Draco meant. It was funny that she wasn't the only one who found this quirk of Theodore's so appealing.

"OK then. You have to make me _want _to say it," Theodore challenged.

Draco said confidently in a sensual growl, "You know I can."

There were more wet smacking noises and little moans that grew to a feverish sound of two animals devouring each other. The bed was squeaking in long, slow intervals matching Draco's motions.

"Oh, god, Draco. Fuck me. For Merlin's sake, FUCK ME." Theodore's cry was just over a whisper but desperate and urgent.

A part of Astoria felt greatly betrayed. She realized that the whole notion of Theodore wanting to save himself for marriage was a huge ruse. And in relation to this, she now felt jealous of _Draco_. She could never elicit such reckless abandon within Theodore. Maybe it was an excuse. Perhaps he never intended to have sex with her _ever._ Forget Pansy's claim that Theodore was bisexual! He was completely gay, and being fucked (brilliantly, by the sound of it) by Draco Malfoy. The realization was such an epiphany that a chorus of angels would have sang just then. All this bollocks about not being interested in sex with her, other than blowjobs, was because he just wasn't attracted to women. All these years, he could never admit to anybody, not even to himself, that he was gay and he used Astoria to try to smite those feelings. It took a sick pervert like Draco Malfoy to get him to come to terms with it – if indeed he had. Then again, knowing how stubborn Theodore was, he probably thought he was still just experimenting. It all made sense now. The way Theodore worshiped Draco, the way he hung onto every word he said, the way he leaped at every opportunity to get into a physical altercation with him, and the way he allowed Draco to abuse him - his feelings went beyond friendship.

Astoria wondered if Draco felt the same way, but something told her he just didn't. There was no love behind his carnal grunts, no emotion except primal hunger. Even his words held no affection. "Tell me how much you love it." He said condescendingly. Draco didn't care how Theodore felt, he just delighted in the fact that he _could_ make Theodore feel this way.

"I love the way you fuck me, Draco. I love your cock deep inside me." On the other hand, Theodore sounded like he would absolutely die if Draco stopped riding him right now. "Oh, Sweet Merlin, don't fucking stop. I'm going to come."

She was so unbelievably turned on right now and her hand slid across the floor, down between her legs, ever so slowly as to not make any noise.

"What are you doing? Did I say you could touch yourself?" Draco reprimanded. Astoria jumped, even though she knew he couldn't possibly be talking to her.

"Fuck, Draco. I can't help it. You feel so good inside me," Theodore sighed.

_Smack!_

"Ow! Fucking hell, Malfoy! "

"You do NOT touch yourself unless I say so." Draco's voice was cool, steady, and commanding without sounding bratty. "You do not touch _me_ unless I say so. You do not come until I give you explicit permission to do so."

"Shit. Are we playing this game again? Why can't we just fuck?" Theodore complained.

"_Game?_ You think this is a _game_, Theodore?" Draco gave a low, condescending chuckle and then spoke with a confident, slow drawl, "You are _nothing_ without me. Nobody can ever make you feel the way I can make you feel, or do the things I can make you do, or come as hard as I make you come. And you know it. So you'll do as I say." Astoria knew his eyes must have been burning silver right now.

"Why do you always have to get so fucking serious?" Theodore griped, and Astoria could imagine his eyes rolling.

"Do I have to tie you up, you insolent, little bitch?" Draco spat.

"Whatever gets you off, Malfoy. So long as you fuck me."

Wet snogging noises ensued, punctuated by pleasure-filled moans.

"Fetch me the rope. I'm going to fuck you so hard, slut," Draco threatened.

The box spring lifted off Astoria's back as Theodore slipped down to the floor, went to reach under the bed, and then froze with horror from what he saw. She stared back at him with wide eyes, equally immobile.

"Erm, what are you doing with Astoria under your bed, Malfoy?"

"What?" Draco asked with only mild surprise. He hopped off the bed and crouched on the floor. When he saw Astoria under his bed, a self-satisfied grin spread across his pale face. "My, my. I never pegged you as a voyeuristic perv." She inched out from beneath the bed. Theodore immediately began summoning his clothing and dressed himself, while Draco stood smirking at Astoria with his arms crossed over his chest, disregarding his nudity entirely. She dusted off her robes and did her best not to meet Draco's eyes, but didn't want to look at his fully erect penis either, and shifted her gaze about the room nervously. "So Greengrass. Like to watch, huh?"

"I didn't _see_ anything," she said and moved quickly towards the door.

"Hold on, Greengrass. Aren't you going to tell us what you're doing, hiding in our room?"

"No," she snorted.

Draco stood between Astoria and the door. "I think you owe me an explanation. What were you doing under my bed?"

"Fuck off, Malfoy. I don't owe you anything."

He summoned his wand and pointed it at her. "Show me what's in your pocket."

She reached into the outside pocket of her robes and said, "Certainly," then pulled out her wand. Draco and Astoria stood glaring at each other with wands pointing threateningly, which looked positively ridiculous, since the boy was stark naked.

"Calm down. Both of you. Put your wands away," commanded Theodore as he buttoned his shirt, still trying to make himself decent.

"Malfoy drew first. I'm not putting my wand down until he does," Astoria said, still scowling at the boy.

"Fine. I know what's in your pocket anyway," said Draco haughtily. "Took you long enough to come back for them, though. I expected you to be crawling back for more, weeks ago."

"They're my memories. You have no right keeping them," said Astoria.

"Of course. Be my guest," he drawled. "I know how much you _love_ to watch."

"Fuck you," she spat and pushed Draco aside as she headed for the door again.

"Astoria, wait," called Theodore just as she reached the door. She stopped. He spoke softly to her, "I know what this looked like, or sounded like, or whatever. But it isn't what you think."

Astoria scoffed, "What is it then, if it isn't what I think it is? You're sleeping with Malfoy."

"Please don't tell anybody," he sighed gloomily.

"Why should I keep your dirty secrets? You lied to me. You said you were saving yourself for me. Bollocks. I bet you and Malfoy have been fucking behind my back for years."

"Tori, it's complicated," Theodore said gravely.

"Well, I think I deserve an explanation."

Theodore exhaled slowly as his dark eyes fell upon hers, full of regret. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"This should be interesting," Draco said, hopping onto the bed and laying back against the headboard.

Theodore turned his head and spoke civilly, "No, I think Tori and I need to be alone. Could you please?"

Draco gave an offended snort, "Fine," then put on a bathrobe that was hanging from the bedpost.

Astoria sat down on top of Theodore's desk and pulled two cigarettes from her pocket while he took a seat at the chair in front of her. Before leaving, Draco leaned down over Theodore and spoke sensually into his neck. "Don't take _too_ long, Theodore. I still need to fuck you." He smirked up at Astoria, who bristled visibly.

"Malfoy, get out," Theodore said in annoyance, shirking away from Draco, who was unaffected.

Astoria lit the cigarettes with her wand as Draco strutted out the room. She handed one to Theodore, who flicked his wand to open the windows, letting in a cold breeze. The smoke and the crisp winter air soothed her. She leaned back on the desk, resting on one hand, and crossed her legs. "Thanks, Tori. I needed a fag like you wouldn't believe." Theodore lounged back in his chair with his shoes resting on the desktop beside her, letting out a long stream of smoke. He looked so at ease and elegant holding the fag gracefully between his slender fingers. For a fleeting moment, it was like things were back to the way they were.

"So . . ." said Astoria, then puffed on the cigarette.

"So . . ." reiterated Theodore.

"He's not stealing your memories anymore, I take it."

"No. Not since, well, he last did it to you," he said with a sympathetic drop in his tone of voice, "and that time was a long after the time before."

"Pansy. Does she know?" Astoria asked.

"She knows enough."

"Meaning?"

"She knows Draco has it off with boys from time to time. You know as well as I do that they have an open relationship."

"But does she know that he's having it off with you?"

"She must."

"But you never explicitly told her?"

"Why talk about it if it will just make things awkward, you know? I think Pans understands that. She doesn't ask about things she doesn't really want to know about." He took another drag off the cigarette and blew it out as if dismissing a thought. "Besides, it doesn't really matter. It isn't serious. It's not like we do it that often."

Astoria sighed and sat silently smoking for a while. There was so much she wanted to know and so much she wanted to express. It was overwhelming, and she didn't want it all to come out in a fit of tears. But it was hard hearing the truth and even harder not to let her anger get the best of her. She fished around her pocket for a certain vial and took it out, fingering it thoughtfully. "You really don't know, do you?" she said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you any idea how long Draco had been kidnapping you and stealing your memories? Or how often he'd done it?"

"I don't know, I can't really remember," he said, shying away from the truth with a shrug of his shoulders.

His cool aloofness broke Astoria's calm. "Come off it, Theo. You share a room with him. You know exactly where he keeps the memories. Don't tell me you've never looked."

"Honestly, I haven't," he said evenly.

She jumped off the desk, flicked the cigarette out the open window, and took the box from beneath Draco's bed. "This entire box is filled with _your_ memories." She lifted the lid towards Theodore and the vials glimmered in the flickering lamplight. "There are dozens, Theodore. The earliest I've found is from fourth year."

He took his feet off the desk and shrank back slightly. He stubbed his fag out on the floor and then whisked away the debris with his wand. "Well, its irrelevant now," he said dismissively, if not a little defensively.

"_Irrelevant_?" Astoria shrieked indignantly. "Fucking hell, Theodore. You must be in love with the prat to over-look something so blatantly wrong." She unceremoniously plopped the box on the desk and got up in the boy's face, which remained stone-like, save for a slight nervous twitch of his lip. She annunciated each sentence as if it were a stab in the gut. "Malfoy had beensexually molesting you since you were fourteen. At least. And even when it became reciprocal, he kept abducting you. Because he's a sick, perverted mother-fucker."

Theodore pouted silently and crossed his arms over his chest, furrowing his brow with a look of resentment in his dark, sparkling eyes. With her face so close to his, she couldn't help but feel a tug of affection – she'd always found him incredibly sexy when he was angry. He averted his eyes crossly when her silver-blue ones met his. Of course, Theodore knew. Maybe he tried to deny it to himself however he could. But from the way he was acting, Astoria was certain that the truth was always buried deep within him, suppressed and locked away. That affectionate tug turned to a painful yank on her heartstrings.

Astoria backed off but continued her onslaught through the immense upwelling of hurt she felt. "Tell me this, Theo. When I told you I was losing time, you knew why. Maybe he never told you directly, but you knew Malfoy was doing to me what he had done to you so many times before. Why didn't you explain it to me? Why didn't you try to stop him? He did it three times, Theo. _Three times!_" She remembered the night Theodore snuggled up in bed with her and vowed not to let anything hurt her – the lie stung her as tears began to streak her distressed face.

Theodore's angry countenance softened as soon as she put on the water-works. He never could stand to see her crying. He stood up and put his arms around her. This time, she didn't force him away. She sobbed into his chest heartily, realizing she needed to cry like this – she'd been holding it in for weeks – and she needed him to hold her. "I'm sorry, Astoria."

"Just tell me why," she sniffed. But as the tears flowed, so did her comprehension of the situation, pouring into the cracks of the story and filling in the giant gaps. She knew the answer. Theodore was completely in love with Draco.

"I don't know, Tori. I just don't know. I was stupid." Theodore was never going to admit what his motivations were.

Astoria realized the question she _really_ wanted him to answer was not the one she had asked. She cried for a good long minute, finding comfort in his lanky arms encircling her and in his familiar smell. Then she pulled away. He took her face in his hands and wiped the tears with his thumb. "Forgive me. I swear I never wanted to hurt you." He placed a kiss on her forehead and then let his cheek rest on top of her hair. She could feel the moisture from his tears on her head.

"Did you ever truly love me, Theodore?" she asked, still crying.

"What do you mean, _did _I?" he asked, sounding like he was affronted.

Astoria backed away entirely and wiped her face on her sleeve. "Stop deluding yourself, Theo. You can't _possibly_ tell me that you _still_ love me."

Theodore took her hand and looked down at her with sincerity in his eyes. "Astoria, we've been through so much together. It's you who have always been there for me. Not anyone else. I will always love you." Astoria cupped his beautiful face with her hands and saw that he was really was crying. It wasn't unsettling for her at all to watch a pillar of Slytherin stability fall to pieces. It was comforting to know that this affected him as much as it did her. "You were there for me when mum was killed. Not Malfoy. Not even Pansy. And you were there for me through dad's trial, when everyone else backed off. It's your love that got me through those dark times. Nothing can change that. But," Astoria knew there had to be a catch, "but the thing is . . ." he searched uselessly for words.

"But you're not _in_ love with me anymore," Astoria said, surprising herself with her own wisdom and clarity of mind.

"Erm . . . yeah," Theodore admitted meekly. Then astonished her with what he said next. "But I want to make it work with you. I really do. I think if we just hash out a few things we can be great again."

If Astoria was the same person she'd been just weeks earlier, she'd have jumped on Theodore's offer immediately. But she wasn't as naïve and delusional as she was before. And she understood that she wasn't _in _love with Theodore either. "I don't know, Theodore. I think we were both in love with an idea more than we were in love with each other. You know, the whole get married, create pureblood heirs, please our ancestors, live decadently off our inheritance idea?"

"You may be right. But is the idea such a horrible one? I mean, how many purebloods of our stature really marry for love nowadays anyway? And what's wrong with marrying your best friend?" As Theodore rationalized with Astoria they slowly started leaning forward into an embrace. Finally, they had broken through the bullshit and were coming to an understanding.

But it still seemed like a fairytale that she didn't much want. Not with Theodore anyway. She deserved more and she knew it. She wanted to be with somebody who truly wanted her, somebody who truly desired her, somebody like . . .

She pushed that tangent thought out of her head immediately. It was utterly preposterous.

"How about we just stay friends and see what happens from there? Keep our options open," Astoria suggested. "I mean there _are_ other girls out there."

Theodore raised a nervous eyebrow and cleared his throat. "Girls. Yeah. Erm, about _that._" He wrung his hands together searching for words, or courage, or both.

Astoria coaxed, "I can accept it so long as you can finally admit it to yourself."

He exhaled deeply. "OK."

"Well, say it then."

"What do you want me to say?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm not going to say it for you. You need to say it."

Theodore sat back down, slumping hard into the chair. "I need a smoke first."

"Fine." Astoria always seemed to be the official cigarette dispenser. She lit a couple of fags for them both and they lounged on Theodore's bed, resting their backs on the headboard. Theodore had his arm around her and she snuggled into him. It hurt slightly to be physically close to him again, since she knew he didn't love her romantically. Astoria realized that she'd missed him terribly.

"So. Let's talk about Malfoy," she said.

Theodore closed his eyes and sighed, still weary of tackling such a heavy subject. "Malfoy."

"Do you care for him?" her line of questioning was now calm, having already expelled the tears and the pain that had built up over weeks.

"Next to you, he's my best mate. Of course I care for him." Theodore idly smoothed Astoria's straw-blond hair.

She rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue in her mouth. "No, Theodore. Do you _care_ for him?"

He paused to take a drag, blew it out pensively, and then admitted tentatively, "I think so."

"I _know _so. So say it," she instructed, "Repeat after me. I am,"

"Oh, god, Astoria. Are we really going to do this?" he sighed haughtily.

"Yes. It will be good for us. Now, repeat after me. I am,"

"I am," he said stiffly, just humoring her.

"Homosexual," Astoria said clinically.

Theodore flicked his black fringe out of his face and said indignantly, "Seriously, Astoria."

Astoria kept going, even though he wasn't repeating her. "And I am . . . come on now, Theo, say it with me."

"You're mad," he scoffed with a little smile creasing his pouty lips.

"In love with,"

"This is preposterous. I won't do this with you," he laughed nervously.

"Draco Malfoy."

He swallowed hard and cursed as the slight smile grew to a full-on grin. "Fuck."

"Say it," she taunted in a sing song voice.

He carded his hand through his dark hair as an apprehensive gesture then shook his head. "I can't."

"Why not? It's true. It's the reason why you let him get between us."

"Are you sore about it?" he asked guiltily.

"Not if you stop lying to me and to yourself and fucking admit it already. Say it. I am in love with Draco Malfoy."

Just as she said the words, the door swung open and Draco strut in with wet hair, apparently having just come out of the bath. "Is that a fact, Greengrass?" he drawled scandalously as he sauntered into the room. Astoria was mortified. She buried her face into Theodore's shoulder and groaned, hoping he would explain it away to Malfoy. "Then why the hell are you snuggled up to that poofter?"

Astoria now understood why Theodore could never and _would_ never admit to loving Malfoy. Draco was an unabashed asshole. He didn't love anybody but himself, and he would rake Theodore over the coals if he ever admit something like that to his face. She didn't quite understand how he could love somebody so demeaning and abrasive.

"She was being facetious," Theodore said.

"Hmm. I see," Draco said, distant and bored as he sat on his bed and began to towel-dry his hair.

Astoria looked on at the peculiar sight and just had to ask. "Why is he drying his hair like that?"

"Because he claims quick-drying spells make his hair brittle." Theodore shot a taunting look over to the other boy. "And you call _me_ a poofter?"

"Oh, shut it, Theodore. You spend more time on your hair than I do." Draco stood up, tossed the towel towards the other boy, and then let his robe fall to his ankles. His nakedness startled Astoria just as much as it had an hour ago. He was thin and tall like Theodore, but his subtle musculature was toned. His pale skin stood out starkly against the dark green drapes and bedspreads in the room. He held his shoulders back confidently, comfortable in his own skin.

"Do you mind, Malfoy? There's a lady in the room," said Theodore sharply, but with a crack in his deep voice, clearly just as flustered by Draco's naked body as Astoria was.

Draco summoned black satin pyjamas out of his wardrobe. "Are you two back together or something?" he asked bitterly. "God, I leave you alone in the room for a second and the scavengers descend," he added with a nasty glare in Astoria's direction as he pulled on his pyjama bottoms.

"Not exactly. We're, erm, working through things. I guess," answered Theodore, looking to Astoria for confirmation.

"I suppose you could call it that," she said to Theodore, stubbing her cigarette out in the ashtray and getting up to leave.

Draco sat at the foot of Theodore's bed, shirtless and casual. "Well then, if you're not going to have make-up sex with Greengrass, I think I'd like to continue where we left off, Theodore." He gave Theo a lascivious grin and then looked to Astoria, raising a pale eyebrow. "She can stay if she wants. I know how much she likes to watch."

Astoria would not be a third wheel. She glared at Draco angrily as she snuffed-out her cigarette in the ashtray and started for the door. He followed her stare as he placed a domineering hand on his conquest's shoulder and sneered triumphantly. Once in the corridor, she felt incredibly alone. And knowing what would ensue after her departure from the boys' room, she felt terribly jealous again.

Astoria returned to the common room with her homework and took a seat in a vacant reading nook within the mahogany paneled wall. It was much too noisy to do any work, it being the weekend, but it didn't matter that she couldn't completely concentrate on her Potions essay, so long as it took her mind off of everything else. Pansy was still chattering away with a gaggle of girls across the room, fawning over pictures of celebrity quidditch players in a magazine. She missed her and their mindless girl-babble. She missed their frank conversations and inside jokes. Astoria desperately missed her best friend. Even if she and Theodore were working through things, she knew she still couldn't make amends with Pansy. It would mean facing things Astoria wasn't prepared to face; things Pansy probably wasn't ready to face either. She sighed sadly and poured into her work, managing to tone out the buzz around her.

It had been two whole hours when Astoria looked up from her completed essay. The common room was beginning to clear – probably a party somewhere. Pansy and the girls were gone. She stood up and stretched, then began to work the knot out of her tight neck muscles with her hand.

"Allow me," came an unexpected voice from behind her, followed by a warm, firm grasp on the back of her neck, kneading away the knot. It was Draco. She didn't particularly want to allow him such casual access to her body, but it did feel good. "Did you watch the memories yet?" he asked softly.

"No. I'd rather not," she spat.

He saw through her lie and said, chuckling, "If you really didn't want to see them, you would have destroyed them."

"I ought to turn them over to the Headmaster," she threatened.

He continued massaging her neck, his grip loosening and becoming more of a caress. "Greengrass, I knew you were a voyeur. I had no idea you were an exhibitionist too. Do you really fancy letting Professor Snape see you like _that_."

Of course, Astoria had no idea what 'like that' meant, but she could hazard a guess and the thought of it was utterly humiliating. She swatted his hand away and turned around to face him. "Where's Theodore?"

"I left him tied to the bedpost . . . after I fucked him senseless. I would have untied him, but he passed out," he drawled in a sensuous tone, with a self-satisfied smirk. Astoria turned to pick up her books and parchment from the bench, dropping half of her things in the process as Draco continued to recount his interlude with Theodore in a hushed, lusty voice, "I made him come so hard. Twice. The second time, he came in my mouth." She was crouched on the floor, scrambling to charm away the mess of a spilt inkbottle, pretending not to hear or see the boy taunting her so closely. Draco joined her on the ground, whispering in her ear, "He told me you never swallow. It's a shame really. Theodore tastes so fucking good. And his come is so saturated with magic, it makes me feel all warm inside." Astoria bit her bottom lip and shuddered – Draco's voice was so reflective of the provocative words he spoke that she knew what he said was true. Her face was flushed with envy and arousal.

"Stop. Just, stop it, Malfoy," she growled, giving up and throwing her armful of parchment and books on the floor. She gave him a seething glare as she said, "You won. He's yours. You don't have to fucking rub it in like that."

"What?" he asked feigning innocence, "I just thought you'd like to know."

That was it. The smug-bastard-prick-son-of-a-bitch-asshole had riled her up to her breaking point. She decked him in the face with her fist clenched around the inkbottle. Her knuckles felt like they'd shattered between the glass and Draco's jaw on impact and she immediately regretted her impulse of violence. She should have just transfigured him into a ferret – less painful for her.

He rubbed his chin and laughed. "You hit just like him too. But you know, it's bad form to hit a fellow Slytherin in the face, especially one with such an appealing face." The smug grin never left his countenance.

"Fuck you, Malfoy," she hissed and turned to storm away.

He grabbed her by the arm. She tugged at it to break free, but his grip was surprisingly strong. He spoke with bitterness and spite this time. "One more thing you should know, Greengrass. Especially since you're trying to reconcile your farce of a friendship. He wasn't a virgin when I fucked him the first time. And he didn't lose his virginity to another bloke. It was Pansy. We had a three-way last year."

Astoria could have punched him again for that. But she didn't want to give him that satisfaction. She yanked her arm out of his grasp and walked away, never looking back to reveal the look of utter heartbreak on her face.


End file.
